Down the rabbit hole
by BlazeScarlet
Summary: What do you do when you stop running? Do you search for answers or do you try to forget what has happen to you? Everybody wants answers, there is somebody who wants them the most. But when the truth surfaces the question is: Does he want to know? Will he be able to live with it despite everything he has been through?
1. Fragments

Down the rabbit hole  
Prologue: Fragments

* * *

An: Somethings to take note off before you read this.

1: This is a rewrite of an old fanfic of mine called Strange things have happen.

2: This story is AU and has nothing to do with the canon.

3: Some words are missing in this chapter. It has been done on purpose for reasons.

* * *

"You can't go in there!"

"Uncle Fran, what's going on? Where's my Mommy?"

He saw his uncle standing in front of the door with hands placed on the door frame. It was a little suspicious, almost like his Uncle was hiding something from him. What was it? A gift? A puppy? A surprise party, the possibilities were endless! Yet, there was one question that kept entering his mind. Where is Mommy? She's always here, most of the time, yet she was nowhere to be seen.

"Y-your M-mother she..." He couldn't say it. He didn't want him to see it.

"Where is she?" The boy repeated.

"She's gone to her Mother's, didn't say when she would be back" Fran lied.

He couldn't tell him. Maybe he would one day but until then he couldn't let him go inside that room. He was just a kid. No child should see that.

"Okay... What about Papa or ****? Where are they?" The boy said.

"I don't know... Look, until they get back your going to stay with me for a few days."Fran told him

"Okay, but why can't I stay with Jerry?" The boy questioned.

"Jerry? I think your forgetting something, *****. Jerry and his family are going on holiday tomorrow" Fran replied.

"Oh, now I remember."

His Uncle couldn't help but laugh. He loved this adorable side of his Nephew. He was so glad that he took after his Mother and not... Well, him. He couldn't say the words, his brother didn't deserve to be a Dad to this sweet, innocent boy. Not after what he did.

"Anyway, go get your stuff from upstairs but only grab the essentials" Fran told him once he regained his composure.

"Gotcha!"

He watched his Nephew go upstairs, the smile removed from his face and replaced with sorrow. He didn't want to do this but he couldn't leave him with... Yes, he loved his **** but he couldn't take any chances. He wouldn't allow him to turned them into monsters, he wouldn't fail his Nephew.

(I'm so sorry, Samantha...)

* * *

"Why are you doing this? Your destroying families for your selfish, sick desires!"

"Selfish? My plans are not selfish, this is all about revenge. Revenge against a company who doesn't care about its employees" The grinning man told him. "But you wouldn't know about that, would you? And you call yourself a cop."

Carlos Jones was clutching the left side of his arm, pain was splattered his face. He was careless . He shouldn't have gone inside the room without protection, but he thought he could deal with it himself. He finally caught up to him. The murderer. The one behind this madness, yet he didn't expect him to be mad as well. He thought it would be better to take the murderer alive, make him pay for what he has done. He was wrong.

(Stupid pride) He chastised himself (Diana was right "One day, Mr Jones, that pride of yours is going to get yourself killed" Well, not today.)

"How can you have no regret? Don't you have a family" Carlos cried out.

"Family?" The giddiness returned to him. "Of course I do, silly"

His eyes sight was limited in the darkness yet he could see the murderer reach for something inside his shirt. He could make out a silver chain and a locket with a simple letter engraved on it.. He could just make out him opening it.

"My ****. ***** and ****" The murderer told him. Carlos heard him sigh "I hate being away from them for so long, but all of this is necessary. However, one this is all done, here at least, I will be returning to them."

"What makes you think I haven't got the building surrounded?" Carlos questioned "Also, if you clearly hate children, then why are your **** still alive?"

"Because I have been monitoring you for a while now, ever since you started this investigation. Its only you and Miss Winters. Oh, and Jeremy poor fool. He's been hook on this too, though I wonder how Blake is doing." The Murderer explained before frowning. "As for you other question... that's private."

Carlos heard the man walking closer, slowly revealing himself from the darkness. Most of him was still covered but Carlos could see the man's grey eyes and a purple suit.

"As for you, Mr Jones, I'll make you a deal." He said

"A deal?" Carlos repeated.

He shouldn't be listening to this. He should be doing his duty and arresting this maniac, it would end all of this and prevent any future killings, Yet, something inside of him was telling him to listen to the man. Maybe it was the aching of his wound or his stupid pride - one more act prevent. He decided to play along and listen to the man.

"Oh, its very simple. You see I'm a man of honour and I always fight my own battles. If I wanted to I could finish this now, however, it wouldn't be fair on you given your disadvantage" The murderer explained "So how about this. This place is closing on Saturday, for good. There is one more birthday party, and I have something extraordinary planned. If you managed to prevent that then I will come quietly"

"There's a catch isn't there?" Carlos inquired.

"Yes. You have to do this by yourself. You wouldn't want to endanger anybody else now, would you? Not even that precious girlfriend of yours?" The murderer replied. "So, we have a deal?"

"Deal"

* * *

There had been so many close calls last night.

Jeremy had been dealing with it all week. He didn't know why he decided to stay, if he wanted to he could have quit earlier. But he didn't, he decided to stay the entire week. His pay wasn't great, even after the added bonuses, but the actual pay of was learning about the restaurant's dark secrets. Normally, this wouldn't have bothered him. The secrets didn't scare him, he had learned to be more aware, more alert and more curious thanks to his father (Who used to be a bit of a wild boy in his youth, often known for his pranks and mishaps). There were something that scared him, especially at night in this place, but he knew he had to be braver. If he wanted to live.

One of those secrets? Well, the animations could move freely at night. It wouldn't have bothered him since they had to move or their servos would lock up. That, and they had little to do at night. There were no children to entertain in the main party room so they went to go looking for them. Or, in this case, for him. He couldn't deny it, the animatronics looked so creepy at night (Especially Toy Chica or, as the children and some of the employees would say Chicadee) He didn't know why they were looking for him, or acted they way they did around adults - he could see that for himself now that he was working during the daytime. Somehow he figured out that there was more to this then the company was telling him.

And that was the other secret he found out. Well, sort off. He was curious about certain things but he wasn't a conspiracy theorist. However, after listening to the messages left by the person who 'called' him at midnight (Jeremy didn't know his name but he had heard from the other employees that they call him the Phone Guy) he was certain that there was more going on. Why do the animatronics have criminal database? Why would they try and get inside the office? Why did the older animatronics smell bad? Those were the important questions that to be answered. Then there the rest, like the rumours about the place (whatever they were). The investigation and the company's involvement. The animatronics facial recognition being tampered with. The building going on lock down for some reason (and in addition to that the search for a previous employee). Then there was Fredbear's family diner and the yellow suit... What was the Phone Guy talking about? An empty animatronic suit, was that even possible?

(None of this is making any sense. I'm getting more questions then answers) Jeremy thought, pondering the Carlos told him. (Things just keep turning upside down and more complicated when it looks like we're making progress. I wonder how Carlos and Diana are doing on their investigation? Ah well, no time to think about it now)

Just like the Phone Guy told him he was currently working on the dayshift, despite being sleep deprived. He was standing in the main party room, drinking his coffee whilst keeping away from the animatronics. He didn't miss the glare they were giving him. As much as he didn't want to be there he had choice. He had been transferred without being asked first, and he had to watch over the birthday party. Besides something was telling him that some terrible was going to happen. This was the last birthday party before the place closes down for good, anything could happen. And if what Carlos told him was true...

"Your Jeremy Fitzgerald right? The night guard?"

Jeremy was so court up in his thoughts that he didn't see somebody walking towards him. When he turned to face said person he saw a man in his late thirties or early forties, with brown hair and hazel eyes, standing before him There was some facial hair around his mouth, but it was kept neat, and he was wearing a blue shirt with a badge on it, a brown body warmer, a black belt, blue trousers and black shoes.

"Uh, yeah, that's me" Jeremy responded "The man's voice sounded familiar. "Are you the person who has been leaving me messages?"

"Yes. I know I tend to ramble on a bit but somebody has to keep the night guard informed" The man told him. "I'm Scott, by the way. Scott Cawthon"

(Well that solves one mystery) Jeremy thought.

"By the way... How were the animatronics last night? Nothing... bad happened, right" Scott asked.

By the tone of Mr Cawthon's voice Jeremy could tell that man wad nervous for some reason. Should he tell him the truth? That the animatronics came so close to capturing him last night. There had been so many close calls. He almost forgot to wind up the music box because he was dealing with old Foxy and Toy Bonnie at the same time. Balloon Boy had taken his spare batteries (Lucky the flashlight hadn't died) and Mangle had almost caught him at the last moment. In fact Mangle had been acting strange all night. Jeremy heard a radio coming from Mangle, he heard it all week but it was louder then normal. He never got a closer look at it but for some reason it looked more beat up then normal. He should tell him the truth but Jeremy didn't want to worry he man.

"The animatronics were fine, Sir. It was a little hard keeping up with them at times, but nothing bad happened" Jeremy lied.

"I see..." Scott muttered.

What was he expecting? Did he know?

"Uh, anyway, hopefully everything will calm down after this. No more investigations and what not. Everything should be fine, third time the charm right." Scott said causally.

"So this place is shutting down." Jeremy questioned.

"Yes, it's for the or so Mr Griffin says. They plan on bring back the old animatronics and moving them to a small location" Scott replied "I'll be in charge for a while, covering messages and all that, until we get a new manager and security guard"

"What about the toy animatronics? Are they not coming back?" Jeremy inquired.

"Not at the new location. They'll be put in storage until the company transfers them to a new location" The phone guy said.

Ah, well all thing must come to end. Speaking of the Toys Jeremy hadn't seen a certain pink and white fox around all day. There again Toy Foxy, or Mangle as she had become thanks to some kids putting her a part and turning her into a tangle of wires and animatronic parts, could be in a different room. Yeah, that was probably it and besides Mangle wasn't in the best of conditions anyway. Jeremy was about to ask Scott about it ... until they heard a horrible screeching sound coming from another room.

* * *

The party was already in full swing, and Carlos was certain he was too late. It wasn't easy convincing Diana to stay behind but he managed to leave her at the police station. He couldn't let anything to her, or anybody else for that matter. Carlos had decided to dress causally so he wouldn't draw attention to himself, not that it matter anyway. He had a plan which involved knocking the murderer out instead taking him in right way. There was a party going on and he didn't want to scare the kids in the process.

The he first thing he noticed was the animatronics moving around in the main party room, interacting and playing with some of the children. He saw Balloon Boy, the chubby looking colourful animatronics that looked like a human, handing out balloons to the kids near by. By the prize corner he could see the Marioette, a puppet animatronic dress head to toe in black with a white mask on its face, giving out gifts and the occasional plush toy. At first Carlos was confused. Weren't they the same animatronics that tried to get inside the security room?

"Your getting close to the truth"

Upon hearing the voice Carlos startled and quickly turned around. He suppressed a screen when he saw the Marionette standing before him, an expressionless look on its face. On closer examination he could see two lines of what looked like purple tears on its mask.

"What are you talking about?" Carlos's muttered, hoping that nobody would over hear them.

"He's here. You must end it for us, for them. You must save them." The Puppet said.

"Who? The murderer? Is he going to kill again?" Carlos asked.

"The trap is set" Marionette said

"You need to start making sense and stop talking in riddles" Carlos stated. "What's going on, where's the murderer and what trap is set?"

The Marionette didn't answer him. Instead he pointed towards the corridor that had the bathrooms and the parts and service room - muttering something about the room that held the older animatronics. Giving the Puppet a quick thanks, and a apology for his brief rudeness, Carlos quickly made his way to said room. He noticed Mr Fitzgearld talking to another man, by the way he was dressed he could tell that he was somebody who worked the day shift. Not the man he was looking  
When the found the room he was looking for he noticed that it was already open. Either one of the other workers or it's him. Opening the door the door he saw the older animatronics, looking slightly different then normal. None of them were activated and they looked in terrible condition. They were missing parts but it looked like somebody went through them with an axe. There was a fowl smell coming from but there was no blood on the floor or walls. Walking around the corner he saw a man bent over s table looking at something. He was dressed head to toe in purple with black shoes. It was him.

"Well, it's about time you showed up" The man commented "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up. And you call yourself an officer of the law"

when the man turned around Carlos finally got a good look at his face. It started him slightly, seeing the crazed look in his eyes and the giddiness on his face. Something was not right here.

"It's over. Nobody else will be dying by your hands" Carlos stated.

"Really? Oh, that's a shame and I was so enjoying our little game." The murderer replied before chuckling "Which is fine by me, as much as I love games. The ones me and my little troublemakers played... Well, you would have to be there to believe it"

Carlos couldn't believe this. Was it all a joke to him?

"A game. Is this a joke to you? You have killed children since the days of Fredbears as well as previous employees" He shouted "You don't deserve to be a-"

Before he finished The murderer grabbed him and slammed Carlos against the wall. The pain did hurt him, it made his bad arm feel worse, but what worried was the dangerous look in the man's eyes and the flash of anger on the man's face.

"Don't you dare talk about them. I will kill you!" The man snarled.

"Then what stopping you?" Carlos challenged "Clearly, you want me dead"

"My little abomination" The man told him.

The Murderer let him go and slowly made his way to the arcade machine that was standing by the wall. He face was turned slightly so that he was looking at the Police Officer, his eyes on Carlos black ones. Carlos had his right hand hover the gun that was attached to his belt Incase the murderer tried anything.

"You see one of the things I have learnt over the years is to be very observant, that and to cover your own tracks before somebody uncovers them. I have made no mistakes so far, and yet here you are. I will admit that it has been fun watching your little investigation, Mr Jones, but you have forgotten one thing" The Murderer explained "Your not as observant as you claim to be"

"Your starting to sound like the Marionette" Carlos groaned.

"So you did have some help from him?" The murderer muttered "It doesn't matter, he can't stop this"

"Of course it does. Thanks to him I will be putting an end to all of this, there will be no more murders" Carlos said "You'll never see your **** ever again"

Nothing was said after that, which left Carlos confused. He thought he was going to get killed when he said that, but in all fairness it needed to be said. He wouldn't let anybody else get hurt by this maniac. Yet, instead of pulling out some kind of weapon the man started laughing. Carlos narrowed his eyes at the scene before him. He hoped somebody was listening in, there was something definitely not right about this.

"A noble statement, Mr Jones. However, you are mistaken. I will be returning to the and we will be a family again" The murderer said after he composed himself "As for you there is just one little thing you have forgotten"

"And that is?" Carlos questioned.

"Consider the Mangle"

"What's that suppose to-"

He never finished his sentence. Something landed on him and had its teeth around his head and neck. The teeth pierced them, blood flowing from the damages in the process. Carlos tried to get away, screaming harshly as he tried to move but it only made things worse. Whatever attacked him only managed to lower itself and pierce Carlos's jaw. After that he stopped moving. The murderer only smiled in satisfaction, clearly satisfied with his work, before making his way to the shadows. There were thing most people didn't see in this room. There was an extra door in this room, one that lead to a secret passageway that only he found (By accident of course) He opened the door and walked through it, closing it behind him as he heard the door on the other side of the room. He heard shouting and somebody was vomiting. Then he heard somebody calling our for somebody to get an ambulance.

* * *

He was beyond tired, yet he still had his job to do and Mike was determined to finish this week. As much as he hated it, the constant game of hide and seek with his life on the line, he would rather be here then at home with him.

As he made his way to the security office he saw his reflection in the window. He saw the latest injuries on his face and cringed slightly, tears from his blue eyes. If he had his hoodie he could cover his face but it wasn't a part of the dress code. He hated this. It was a stupid argument yet Mike had been hurt in the process when his foster Mother's boyfriend lashed out at him. All of this could have been prevented if Mike decided to leave a little earlier than normal.

The redhead sighed as he entered the room, preparing himself for the game of cat and mouse. Before he loved Freddy's, if his memories survived him correctly he used to go all the time with ... somebody. He could never who took him, his memories were scattered. Now as a twenty-three year old man he hated it. Mike learned the hard way. This wasn't a place of fantasy and fun. No, it was living nightmare. The animatronics could move at night, they had to or their survos would lock up and they wouldn't be able to preform in the morning. Maybe that would be for the best, they did look creepy and a little terrifying, but the kids loved them. But at night they acted differently. He saw them staring at the camera or standing in odd places. Bonnie was the most terrifying, sometimes it looked like he was missing his eyes and he could only see little white dots. For some reason they were trying to get inside his office, they wanted to get him. If they did then they would put him in a spare animatronic suit and It wouldn't be an easy procedure. They would be forceful and, thanks to the crossbeams, wires and other animatronic devices, kill him in the process. That was something Mike couldn't allow. So he decided to play their little game and tried to survive the night which had been successful so far.

Before he took his place in the chair Mike noticed a white piece of paper on the desk. Normally, the desk was dirty with monitors, paper, left over food or drinks or stains on it. It was clean now, the monitors were still there, but the only thing present was the piece of paper. Seeing as he had ten minutes to spare Mike decided to read it.

_If you are reading this then it means you are alive and have managed to survive the week. I'll admit it's impressive but it also means you have sold your soul to Freddy's and you cannot leave unless you die of course. However, I feel pity for you so I decided to leave you some sound advice. Get yourself fired. There's only one way you can do that. Mess with the animatronics systems. I won't lie they will come for you a lot quicker but as long as you keep moving you should be fine._

It took Mike a moment to process all of this, coming to the conclusion that there was a lot more going on then he realised. Yet, there was no time to figure it all out. The only thing he focused on was the dangerous side to all of this. He could get fired or worse but he could leave this nightmare for good. But he still wanted the money, it was the only way he could escape his own nightmare. For now he decided to focus on one problem for now and deal with the other one later. If he lived.

There was work to be done.


	2. Why come back?

Down the rabbit hole  
Chapter 1: Why come back?

* * *

It was another Monday afternoon at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. The daily entertainment was already underway and, as per usual, there was a party in progress. It had only been four months since Freddy's had a night guard, the last one had been fired for... reasons. Yet, somehow the place managed to stay open and was receiving more money than usual. Because of this the current manager had decided to update the place and give it a well deserved renovation.

The first half of the renovation was given to the animatronics. They were given a much needed cleaning and some of their old parts were replaced. They managed to keep their movements fluid so that they wouldn't glitch out and scare the customers and the children in the process. They even managed to bring back Foxy, the red pirate fox with gold eyes who was located in Pirates Cove. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica (a brown bear with blue eyes, a purple rabbit with magenta eyes and a yellow chicken with purple eyes) were still on the stage respectfully.

The second half of the renovation was to update the place and make it more presentable. There was a massive clean up job done , more room were added and some were made bigger. Pirates cove became its own area instead of it being a part of the main party room - it even had its own props, a pirate ship and a painted background. A prize corner was added in the main party as well as some other attractions like an indoor playground, a ball pit and some new arcade machines.

Because of of the new additions and how well the place was doing the manager decided to hire two night guards instead of one. That way there would four pairs of eyes watching the place instead of two. There was already one candidate in mind and he would meeting them soon, the other, well, it had to be somebody he could trust. The last night guard was so very promising, but after what he did... he had no choice but to fire him. Truthfully, the manager's decision surprised everybody. Usually he didn't care about people's safety, nor did he know what happened during the right, but he told his employees a few simple words.

"This place has been booming in business, something that hasn't happened in a long time and I intend to keep it that way. This place is now vulnerable and its needs protecting. That's why I decided to hire two night guards"

And since then nobody has question him. However, nobody was expecting the events to come or how they effect one of the night guards.

* * *

He didn't know why he decided to come back, but there was one thing that certain in Mike's mind. He need this job more then ever. He managed to escape one nightmare, he successful completed the seventh night just barely. The other nightmare? Well, it got worser than before. He could leave if he wanted to, and he should, but Mike has nowhere to go. That's why he was working at Freddy's before, he wanted the money so he could escape from the nightmare. If he had enough then he could buy a place of his own and rebuild his life before its broken for good.

(You better get this over with, Mike, or people will start looking at you weirdly)He thought (I just hope Mr Johnson isn't too mad at me)

When he walked into the building the first thing Mike noticed was how different the place looked. when he first entered the place four months ago it felt cold and looked dirty, of course that was before he found out the place's secrets. Now it looked better and the atmosphere was a lot more friendly and warmer. He had to double check and pinch himself, in case he was dreaming but he wasn't. This is the right place, right? How or when did this happen?

"What happened here?" Mike muttered.

"It's not what you were expecting, right?"

Mike nearly jumped when heard the voice, he didn't like being scared. When he turned around he saw a man, who was in his early forties, with brown hair, black eyes and had freckles on his face. He was wearing the standard day shift uniform: a blue shirt and trousers, a brown body warmer, a belt and black shoes. There was an ear piece around his right ear which was attached to a microphone.

"Sorry about that but I'm right, aren't I?" The man said.

Y-yeah. I used to work here four months ago and it looked completely different back then" Mike replied.

Of Couse, he only saw the place at night time and after he finished his shift. Still, though, he did have a point.

"I don't know how it happened. The company received a generous amount of amount of money one day and Mr Johnson decided to update the place. Business just keeps getting better and better, I just don't know if it's a good omen considering... Well, you know Freddy's and their bad luck" The man explained "So, you used to work here"

"Yeah. I was the previous night guard who got fired. My names Michael Schmidt, but, I prefer to be called Mike" The redhead told him. He then frowned slightly. Something about this man looked familiar "Have we met before?"

At first the man didn't say anything. He looked a little nervous and a bit pale.

"Uh, are you alright?" Mike asked.

The man blinked twice before responding "I'm fine, thanks. And to answer your question, no, we haven't met before. I'm Fritz Smith"

They stood there for a few minutes, neither one of them said anything. Fritz, managing to hide his nervousness, quickly gazed over the boys face. He looked... disappointed and upset? Now why would he be upset? As much as he wanted to ask him Fritz decided not to ask him about it. Maybe he was grieving or looking for somebody.

"So, uh, anyway" Fritz coughed, bring the young man back to reality. "Why have you decided to come back? It's just a night guard job, there's nothing exciting about it. I mean, why would you come to Freddy's during the night? There's nothing to do all night and it would just be boring"

(If only you knew) Mike thought. "Well, it's difficult to say and I rather not talk about it. All you need to know is that i really need this job, badly."

Fritz nodded in understanding but something was bothering him. Mike was hiding something, and if there was one thing he hated the most it was people keeping secrets from him. But he wasn't going to ask him about it was Mike's problem to deal with.

"Well then I better take you to Mr Johnson's office" Fritz said. "Though, I don't think he's going to like this"

"I know that, but I don't have a choice" Mike replied.

"Lets just hope he's in a good mood then"

* * *

Unfortunately for both men said manager was very angry when he heard the news. Fritz, after telling Mike to wait outside, was the first to experience the manager's wrath At first it was quiet then Mike heard shouting , followed by footsteps and the door opening. If there was one thing any employee knew it was to never make the manager angry Unfortunately, Mr Johnson had the worst temper ever. Gavin Johnson was a man in his late thirties. He had dark skin tone, dark red hair and brown eyes and there was slight facial hair on his face. Not much was known about the man, save for his anger problems and that he liked to smoke occasionally. Despite that he was married and has two sons who sometimes come to Freddy's, one was fifteen the other was twelve. When Gavin saw Mike the manager snarled slightly.

"Well, look who decided to come back" He said. "I thought I told you to never come back ever again"

"I-I'm sorry, sir, but if you just let me explain" Mike tried to apologise but the tone of his voice was betraying him. He tried to not cry.

"Explain what? You tampered with the animatronics, messing with their systems in the process and betrayed the company's trust in the process. And now you want to work here again" Gavin shouted. He calmed down slightly before continuing. "Before you we hadn't had a proper night guard, you were good at the job Mike and very promising for Fazbear's future. Then you went and messed it up"

"You don't understand, Sir. I had to leave for... reasons. Besides the animatronics were after me, if I didn't escaped-"

"Don't be stupid, Schmidt. The animatronics have to move around at night or their servos will locked up. You have been told that, haven't you?" Gavin remarked. "Give me one good reasons why I shouldn't have you throw you out for wasting my time."

"I... I can't" Mike muttered. Everything was betraying him. He was shaking, and as much as he wanted to tell the manager his problem he couldn't tell him.

"We're getting nowhere." Gavin groaned "Just leave, Schmidt, there's no need to make things more difficult"

Mike was about to leave until Fritz decided to speak up.

"Mr Johnson, Sir, your not giving him a chance to explain himself" Fritz stated, clearly not afraid of the manager.

"I don't care. This man cannot be trusted, you heard what I said Mr Smith" Gavin replied.

"All I'm saying is that Mike has his reasons and he wishes to keep them private. The only thing you need to know is that he needs this job" Fritz explained. "Besides we have the other security guard working here as well. Maybe he could keep an eye on the young man."

Mike was brought back to his senses when he heard that. He was grateful for Fritz coming to his defence, there was only one person he knew of who did that. But that's not what surprised him. Another security guard? Did... did they know what happens during the night shift? Probably not, Mr Johnson didn't so he probably didn't tell them what was actually going on. The person on the phone... Well, he liked to ramble and covering things up whilst pretending that they didn't happen. So it was up to him then... That's if he got his old job back. Then he could tell them the truth, although they would most likely call him crazy for saying such things.

Gavin sighed in defeat. "Very well, your rehired. But I'm warning you now, Mr Schmidt, if you mess up just one I will fire you again."

"I understand, Sir" Mike said.

"Just don't make me regret this decision" Gavin said before heading back into his office.

It was just Mike and Fritz now, the silence came over them. Fritz looked towards Mike. He noticed that he stopped shaking, which made Fritz believe that he didn't like being shouted out, and he was wiping away the tears from his eyes. Clearly, the young man had problems but he didn't want to talk about them. It made Fritz wonder what could he do in a situation like this? He wanted to help Mike, but he told him that he didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps he could give him some kind of support until he was ready talk? He could do that but Mike barely knows him...

"You okay?" The brunette asked.

"I'm fine... I- I just don't do well in situations like this" Mike admitted.

(Poor kid, He must have been through a lot) Fritz though sympathetically. "I won't push you, don't worry I remember what you said before. But if you do need somebody to talk to you can always find me"

"I'll consider it, thanks" The redhead replied "Now about that other security guard."

* * *

Jeremy didn't want to come back.

What he saw that still lingered in his mind. Why was Carlos there in the first place? Jeremy knew about Carlos's investigation, the Police Officer never went into great details about it but he did tell him that he was looking for somebody and that it was related to Freddy's. But what happened to Carlos... he believed it was an accident. A freak accident. It didn't make sense, something like that shouldn't be possible. Somebody messed with Toy Foxy or whatever was left of her since she looked like something out of nightmare. He did try to forget but the image still played in his mind. Then a dangerous thought entered his mind. That could have been him, stuck under that animatronic with blood pouring out of his head and neck. Jeremy felt terrible about it. No, he felt much worse then that. He felt sick, the whole ordeal made him have nightmares and sometimes he was sick. His parents and Sister knew what he was going through, they helped him through the whole ordeal whenever the nightmares got worse. In fact his parents recommended that he should go on vacation for a while, they told him that he needed to rest and recover. There was still a long way, as his therapist told him, but he was slowly recovering.

So, why did he decided to come back?

That was the one question he couldn't answer. A few days ago he received a phone call from Mr Johnson. Gavin had told him that he had submitted an application form for the night guard job. Of course Jeremy denied it. He told him that he never submitted one in the first, he didn't want to come back after what happened in the other location. For some reason Gavin already knew that, he apologized for what happened but also told him that he wanted somebody with Jeremy's experience. Gavin explained his two night guard plan to Jeremy, he told him that he wouldn't be alone during the night and that location was smaller then the previous one. And as am added bonus he would raise Jeremy's pay if he decided to come and work form him.

Jeremy, against his better judgement, decided to come back but there was only thing he wanted out of this. To get justice for Carlos and his family. He had met Carlos's family when he went to hospital to see how he how was doing - if he was making any progress. It turns out he had three other siblings, two sister and a brother. He told them that he wanted to get justice for them. He wanted to find the one responsible for Carlos's accident and make him pay for what he has done. Whilst they were grateful for his decision they told him that he didn't have, of course Jeremy had insisted on it. And if that meant digging a deeper then he wanted to, finding out the real secrets of this place, then he would do it.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door opening. At first he thought it was Gavin. Jeremy had finished his meeting with his new boss over an hour ago and he was collecting his new uniform. Then he lost track of time and he was still in the staff room. To his relief it wasn't Gavin but rather Fritz Smith and he was talking to somebody.

(The second security guard maybe?) He thought. Having two security guards instead of one was good idea, it meant having an extra eye on the place and the animatronics. But upon hearing the other person talking Jeremy thought he was hearing things. There was something familiar about it. (Is that... It can't be him, can it?)

"Oh, hey there, Jeremy. I thought you left already." Fritz said.

"I lost track of time" Jeremy replied "Say, weren't you talking to somebody just now? A young looking man with red hair and blue eyes by chance?"

"Uh, yes I was. He's just around the corner" Fritz replied, taken back slightly by the odd description. Why would he want to know that anyway? "Why do you ask anyway?"

"I tell you in a minute. I just need to confirmed something" Jeremy said.

Walking around the corner he saw the man looking at some of the posters on the wall with his back towards him. He did have red hair, but anybody could have red hair. Jeremy decided to take risk to see if it was him - an old friend of his. If not then he would apologise.

"Mike Schmidt?" Jeremy asked.

The person turned around, revealing a pair of blue eyes. Jeremy couldn't believe it. It was him! Of course he was older now, and looking slightly confused, but it was his old friend. Jeremy couldn't help but wonder if he recognised him. They were older now, of course, but hopefully he would he would remember him and all the time they spent together as friends.

To his surprise Mike replied with. "Yes? How do you know my name?"

"You don't remember me? It's me, Jeremy Fitzgerald" Jeremy said "You know, your best friend in the whole wide world"

"Jeremy Fitzgerald" Mike muttered.

Then it hit him.

"O-oh! Shit. Jeremy! I'm so sorry. I didn't recognise you!" Mike cried.

Both men walked towards each other and hug. It was at that moment when Fritz decided to come round the corner, wondering was going on. Upon seeing the friendly reunion the older brunette couldn't help but smile. Seeing things like this warmed his heart, something like this only happened rarely for him. But the smile on his face was only lasted temperedly and was replaced with a look of concerned. Something was troubling him.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's only been, what?, twelve years since we last saw each other" Jeremy said when the hug finished.

"Thirteen actually" Mike corrected him. "I turned twenty-three six months ago"

"Oh, well happy belated birthday. Looks like I got to get you a present then" Jeremy responded

"You don't have to, seeing an old friend again is better then nothing" Mike told him.

Fritz coughed, getting the lads attention in the process. " Sorry to interrupted but do you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Sorry, Fritz. Me and Mike and old friends. We've know each other for a long time but... Well, lets just say we haven't seen each other in a long time" Jeremy explained.

"I see. Looks like you two need time to catch up" Fritz said.

(That if we don't die first) Mike thought grimly. This was something he wasn't expecting. A reunion with an old friend. Well at least the second night guard was somebody he knew, it would make explaining things much more easier. Or did it? After all telling him everything about this place and what really happened might make Jeremy think he was insane.

"How about tomorrow afternoon? There's a coffee shop close by and we're probably going to need it after the night shift" Mike suggested "As long as we're not sleep deprived"

"That works for me, I have nothing planned" Jeremy replied. "Wait. Your the other night guard?"

"Uh, yeah. I worked here before so I know the ins and outs of this place" Mike said nervously.

"Oh, well that a relief" Jeremy sighed. He quickly check his watch. His eyes widened when he saw what time it was. His sister was going to kill him if he was late" Sorry to cut this sort but I need to leave right now. I promised to take my sister to the movies and she's going to kill me if I'm late"

"Don't worry about it. I better go to or Aisha will be wondering where I am" Mike said.

After that Jeremy and Mike left the room, but not before saying good bye to Fritz. Then it was just Fritz left in the room but he had no plan on leaving just yet. He needed time to think. This was the last thing he wanted. Whilst he was happy seeing Mike and Jeremy again this worried him greatly. Jeremy wouldn't be a problem but Mike... Why did he have to come here? Why did it have to be Freddy's? Especially since... _He_ worked here as well. He knew this was going to end badly but hopefully he could prevent that.

"Never thought I would see those two again. This... Mike shouldn't be here. It would... He would... This is going to end badly, isn't it?" Fritz muttered.


	3. Peace treaty Or so it seems

Down the rabbit hole  
Chapter 2: Peace treaty... Or so it seems.

* * *

Jeremy was the first to arrive that night.

Of course he had his car so was bound to get to the Pizzeria first, Mike did tell him that he hadn't got one yet and that it was one of his future plans. When Mike told him that it did make Jeremy wonder what he meant. It could just mean nothing and Mike was just simply saving up before buy one, or there was something else going on. No, perhaps he was just reading into it too much and Mike was being truthful to what he said. Besides he had more important things to worry about. Like the nightshift for example. He was grateful for having somebody who dealt with something like this before, had it been somebody else then they might have thought he was crazy... Well, until they saw it for themselves.

"At least I got an old friend with me" Jeremy muttered.

He quickly checked his watch and frowned slightly when it saw the time. It was twenty five minutes past a eleven, Mike should have been here by now. Jeremy had arrived ten minutes already dress in his uniform which was a little different from last time. He still had the blue shirt and trousers combo but, instead of brown body warmer and bowtie, he was wearing a black blazer and tie. There was hat with the words 'security' on it as well but Jeremy didn't feel like wearing it. It was only there for professional reasons if he decided to come in during the day.

He checked his watch again and quickly looked around the parking lot. Mike still hadn't arrived yet and Jeremy was starting to get worried. Mike was like a little brother to him. He was only three years older then the redhead but he still treated him like family. He couldn't remember how they became friends in the first place, it was a long time ago after all, but they did hang out all the time. When he was checking the old photos earlier he remembered the time they spent together. Playing at the beach and the park, the birthday parties, the sleepovers, there was even some taken a Freddy's. There was one where Mike had just Freddy plush and looked a little shy with the plushie, Jeremy had a Bonnie one. Then Mike just disappeared. He still doesn't know how it happened, he was making his way to Mike's one day but... something just happened. An accident or something like that, there were these strange people in suits walking around the place and Mike wasn't one of them. He cried himself to sleep that night and didn't make any friends. His parents, his Mother mostly, did try and help him but he couldn't do it. He didn't want to be hurt anymore.

He shook his head, he took a spit of water and looked out for Mike again. He didn't want to think about, at least Mike was back now and that was all that mattered. Speaking of the redhead Mike had finally arrived, wearing the same uniform as him, and he was... looking completely out of breath? He couldn't help but frown at that. Did Mike run all the way here from his house? He didn't live too far a way from Freddy's but surely he could asked somebody for a lift or got a cab here. Jeremy removed himself from his car just as Mike made it to him. He doubled over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath.

"S- sorry I'm late" Mike apologized "H-have you been here long?"

"Just a little over ten minutes" Jeremy replied. "Are you all right, Mike? You looked like you just run a marathon. Did you run all the way over here?"

"On and off. Aisha had left for her night shift and I had woken up late from a quick nap " Mike told him once everything was back in order and he was standing up again. "And I'm fine, Jerry. Thanks for asking"

"If you say so, Mike. But, Is there nobody else who could drive you? Aisha's husband or somebody else?" The brunette said.

"No, there isn't. Aisha isn't married, not yet anyway. She does have a boyfriend and they are engaged but... I'm not his favourite person at the moment" Mike told him.

"Well, if that's the case then I could pick you up in my car. Jeremy offered him. "That way we're not late for our shift and you don't have to run all the way over here"

"Well, as along as you don't mind"

"Of course I don't. We're friends, Mike, and besides your like a brother to me"

"Okay, you can pick me up" Mike agreed "Come on, Gavin's probably waiting for us"

Mike went inside first, Jeremy followed after him. He couldn't help but wonder if Mike was hiding something from him. Was there something going on between him and Aisha's boyfriend, Mike didn't feel comfortable talking about him. Well, whatever it was there was time to think about that later. They had a job to do. They made there way to the main party room where they saw Gavin looking at the animatronics. He turned to face them when they approached him.

"About time you two showed up" He said before giving Jeremy a set of keys. "Here are the spare keys to the place, your in charge. Oh, and keep eye on Schmidt here. Last time he worked here he tampered with the animatronics. We can't allow the same thing to happen twice"

"Don't worry I'll make sure Mike behaves him" Jeremy replied with a hint of amusement.

Of course, Gavin didn't find it funny. Now was the time to be serious and not to joke around, especially after last time. But he decided to say nothing. Instead he bid the two night guards good night and left the building, Jeremy followed behind him. Once Gavin was outside Jeremy locked the doors and went back to the main party room. He saw Mike looking thoughtfully at the animatronics.

"Well, isn't he a nice man?" Jeremy said.

"Oh, believe me, you don't know the half of it" Mike remarked.

"Something on your mind?" The brunette inquired, changing the subject.

"I was think about the animatronics" Mike replied "They look different then last time"

"Its definitely an improve then last time" Jeremy agreed. "Looks like the company finally decided to repair them"

Mike was about to make his way to the security office but he stopped when Jeremy said that. He turned around and looked at the man with a bewildered expression. How could he have known about that? Did Jeremy work here before?

"Wait a minute. The repairs were only done after I was fired and I never saw you whilst I was working here." Mike said. "So, unless you were working during the day you couldn't have none that"

"I worked at the last location, you know the 'new and improved Freddy's'. Somehow Gavin found out about it and asked me to work here as one of the night guards" Jeremy told him.

"Oh, I see. Sorry, Jerry" Mike apologised.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You didn't know, I should told you sooner" Jeremy replied.

The two of them went down the left corridor and entered the security office. The room hadn't changed the past four months. It still had the same checked flooring, grey walls, posters and drawings, the table with fan and the tablet on it and the same handing light. It was still clean and instead of one chair there were two. Jeremy decided to sit down. Mike checked the clock and saw that they had fifteen minutes to spare.

"So, the old location. What was it like?" Mike asked.

"It was bigger then this place. More rooms, new attractions, bigger prize corner and new animatronics" Jeremy told him, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "I don't know what happened to the ones here, they were left in the parts and service room and used for spare parts for the Toys"

"Toys?"

"That's what they called them, Well, the new Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Although, I don't think they were meant for entertaining children - especially Toy Chica with... what they did to her. Don't ask me about it " The brunette explained "Oh, and there were two others as well. This small, chubby but very annoying animatronic called Balloon Boy and the Marionette. They moved around at night, except for the Marionette. He stayed in his box unless the music box stopped playing, or so I was told. Never did it myself"

"And what about the other animatronics" Mike asked.

"Well, like I said, they were in the parts and service room and they did move around at night. They were in terrible condition, probably from neglect and a lack of maintence work. Bonnie was missing his face, Chica was missing the lower half of her beak and her hands" Jeremy recalled. "Foxy was missing parts of his fur and endoskeleton was more exposed, the same happened with Freddy except he looked more muscular"

"So there were ten in total." Mike realised "That must have been hectic"

"It was but I managed, somehow" Jeremy said.

It was at that moment the clock stuck midnight. A few seconds later the phone started ringing and Jeremy accepted the call, a feeling of nostalgia pulsed through him.

_ "Hello, hello? Uh, I wanted to record a message for you to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I'm finishing up my last week now, as a matter of fact. So, I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I'm here to tell you there's nothing to worry about. Uh, you'll do fine. So, let's just focus on getting you through your first week. Okay?"_

_"Uh, let's see, first there's an introductory greeting from the company that I'm supposed to read. Uh, it's kind of a legal thing, you know. Um, "Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person. Upon discovering that damage or death has occurred, a missing person report will be filed within 90 days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced."_

_"Blah, blah, blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there's really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronic characters here do get a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same stupid songs for twenty years and I never got a bath? I'd probably be a bit irritable at night too. So, remember, these characters hold a special place in the hearts of children and we need to show them a little respect, right? Okay."_

"Some things never change" Mike muttered.

"So he did come to work here" Jeremy mused.

"Did you know him?" Mike asked.

"He worked at the last location as well, during the dayshift" Jeremy told him "He handle the phone calls there as well"

_"So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit. Uh, they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Uh...Something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to walk around during the day too. But then there was the incident. Yeah. I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?"_

To that Jeremy shuddered. Mike took noticed of that.

_"Uh, now concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night watchman here, if any, is the fact that these characters, uh, if they happen to see you after hours probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll p-most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now since that's against the rules here at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to...forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. Um, now, that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area. So, you could imagine how having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort...and death. Uh, the only parts of you that would likely see the light of day again would be your eyeballs and teeth when they pop out the front of the mask, heh." _

_"Y-Yeah, they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, first day should be a breeze. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Uh, check those cameras, and remember to close the doors only if absolutely necessary. Gotta conserve power. Alright, good night."_

"Well, he does like to ramble on, doesn't he?" Jeremy commented.

Mike didn't answer him but he did nod his head in agreement. Hearing the Phone Guy's messages again brought back bad memories, considering what happened during the last phone call. He couldn't help but wonder why the Phone calls were still active. They were meant for new security guards but weren't the company aware of Phone Guy's death?

"Do you know what happened to him" Jeremy suddenly asked.

"Who?"

"Scott, uh, the Phone Guy" Jeremy said. "He told me he was being transferred to this location but I haven't seen him"

When Mike didn't answer him Jeremy started to get worried. "Mike? What happened to him?"

"He's dead"

Upon hearing that Jeremy placed his head on the table and slammed his right hand on top of it, the sound made Mike flinch. What was he suppose to say? He couldn't lie about what happened, it was distasteful. He didn't know which one of them got him. All he remembered was hearing banging, music being played (which was Freddy's jingle, a melody Mike didn't want to hear again),groaning and then a screeching sound followed by static. Maybe Freddy's got him in the end? Although, he did remember something. The Phone guy wanted him to check inside the suits in the backroom.

Jeremy turned his head towards Mike. "How did it happen?"

"I'm not sure, the whole night was a blur. He was talking frantically and there was a lot of background noise. I think the message is still on here" Mike told him. "Although, he did want me to do something. He wanted me to check the suits in the backroom"

"Why would he want you to do that?" Jeremy questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe... Maybe his body is still here" Mike guessed. "Don't get your hopes up, Jerry. These were done before I even started working here so I don't know if its going to he there or not"

"Well, we'll have to check later. Maybe see if Fritz knows something" Jeremy said before grabbing the tablet. He flicked through the cameras and stopped on the one that showed the stage. One of the animatronics were missing... And, it wasn't Bonnie. "Uh, Mike, is Freddy suppose to move first?"

* * *

As soon as the clock hit midnight the free roam made kicked in. A pair of blue eyes flickered open and looked around the room. They were used to this by now, waking up from there 'sleep' at the stroke of midnight. It was necessary, they needed to be active and roam around or their servos would lock up. It had been that way for... How long had it been again? He couldn't remember. He couldn't remember how long its been since they were like this. They just woke up one day and started performing. Those were the days when everything was peaceful.

Then everything changed.

It was the day they were replaced. Before that everything had been fine, they were in the best condition possible, but one day they started glitching and saying words that were... not suppose to be there. He didn't remember the whole thing, the pre-recorded messages were scrambled. The next thing they knew was that they were in parts and service room with missing parts and that they had been replaced. They didn't like their toy counterparts. They were angry with them, angry that they had been replaced with younger, more advanced animatronics and that they were used for spare parts. Whatever happened next was a blur, and the next thing they knew they had woken up in a new building. It never ends, does it?

Freddy turned to right side of the stage where the camera was positioned. He hadn't expected those two to return, considering what they used to do. When they realised what they were doing each night they were ashamed of themselves, they didn't know why they were attacking the night guards - they thought that they were endoskeletons without a suit on - but for some reason they had to do it. But those two night guards... Why did they return? After a week of this place you think they that would never return, if they managed to survive, yet here they were, ready to start working again. At least it was somebody who used to the strange doing on at night and not somebody who was inexperienced. But that redhead... He remembered what he did to them that night. Looking back at it Freddy couldn't blame him, he clearly wanted out and was willing to do anything to escape - at least he didn't start trashing the place - but Freddy knew he couldn't trust him. Not until he got answers from him. They all wanted answers from him.

"What a long day"

Freddy turned his attention to the purple rabbit. Since gaining the ability to speak Bonnie had been nothing but trouble, and that bothered Freddy. They were meant to be role models for the children, even if they were animatronic animals. But not Bonnie. He was calm around the children but at night he liked to complain about the smallest of things. He didn't sit still for long, did something he was not suppose to do like doing pranks - Freddy had made him clean the place a few time as punishment - or steeling some of the pizza from the kitchen when Chica wasn't looking. He and Freddy always got into arguments with each other.

"You should be grateful. If it wasn't for the new upgrades we would still be stuck in our old ways" Freddy pointed out.

"Why? There's nothing to do, except for playing music, and you know how easily board I get" Bonnie complained.

"That's because you have a short attention span" Freddy remarked.

"At least I don't have a big ego, Mr spotlight hog" Bonnie countered.

"Are you two arguing again?"

Freddy and Bonnie turned to Chica who was looking at them in disappointment. The Mother hen of the group was the one who often stopped Freddy and Bonnie from fighting.

"Just a little disagreement, Chica" Freddy clarified "My apologises"

"Honestly, if you two would learn just to get a long we wouldn't be having this conversation now, would we?" Chica scolded.

"But we have nothing in common" Bonnie said.

"You both entertain children, like music and are stuck in the same situation as all of us" Chica pointed out.

"Ugh, fine, can we drop this now?" Bonnie wined. "I would like to know what are we going to doing about those two night guards"

Yes, what were they going to do about the night guards? They needed to talk to them, have everything out in the open and .But would they trust them?

"We need to talk to them" Freddy decided.

"Is that the best thing to do?" Chica question.

"It is risky, they have every right not to trust us" Freddy agreed. "But its the only way we can move on from this. We need answers, they probably want answers as well"

"Yeah, well, good luck with that" Bonnie said. "Just don't forget about Foxy, you know what he's like"

"I rather deal with him then you any day" Freddy muttered before leaving the stage.

He had to check on Foxy first, to make sure that he stayed in Pirate's cove whilst he was talking to the night guards. For some reason Foxy craved attention and when he wasn't being watched he spirited towards the security office. It did made Freddy wonder why he did that, maybe he just like the attention and since there were no children around he had to do something. But then again they all had strange little quirks that made them do things. Bonnie could be a jerk at time but he acted like a big brother, especially to the younger children. Chica loves to cook, obviously, but she always had that happy demeanour about her - except for when he and Bonnie were fighting and arguing with each other. She hated that. Himself? Well, he was the leader out of the four of them and acted more maturely then some (For the most part). He was also smart, very smart.

When he opened the door to Pirate's cove he saw Foxy tidying the place up, sometimes the cleaners didn't do a good job and, strangely, Foxy finished what they started. There manager's vision for the place was to have an actual pirate setting, to make the story telling somewhat realistic (Not that Foxy needed that help)Out of all of the renovations that were done Pirate's cove and the animatronics themselves were worked on the most. The background was of the sea and there was some fake sand in front of the it. There was a wooden replica of a pirate ship, big enough so that children could play on it, and around the ship were wave stands to make it look like the ship was at sea. The props were swords and cutlass, all fake of course, and there pirate hats hanging up by the wall.

"Ahoy, captain. What brings ye here?" Foxy greeted when he finally noticed him.

"Just checking up on you, Foxy" Freddy said. "And I need a favour from you"

"And that is?"

"We have two new night guards. Well, they're not exactly new they have worked here before but I need you to stay away from the security office" Freddy explained.

"I can do that Captain"

"Thanks, Foxy." Freddy thanked before leaving the room.

* * *

"He's not on stage?" Mike said. "That hasn't happened before. Check the camera, he can't have gone far."

"Any ones in particular" Jeremy inquired.

Which ones was it again? It wasn't too hard to remember, even if it had been only a few months since he last worked here, but at this point it could be any of them. Still Mike recalled the old animatronic patterns.

_Bonnie was in the backroom, the main party room, the storage closet and the corridor to left. Chica was in the main party room, the bathrooms, the kitchen and the corridor to the right. Foxy was in pirate's cove. Freddy... What was Freddy's pattern again? Wait, what did Phone guy say again? He was more active in the dark so I had to look out for a pair of white eyes which were... That's it! The bathroom, main party room and the corridor on the right. _

"Check the bathroom, the main party room and the two cameras on the right corridor" Mike told him. "You won't be able to see, Freddy likes to blend in with the dark so look for a pair of white eyes"

Jeremy did as he was instructed. He check the bathroom first, nobody was there. He check the main party room and saw... Bonnie and Chica talking to each other? Or, at least that's what it looked like. Was that even possible? Could they talk to each other? What surprised him next was that Foxy had joined them. Did he remember what happened at the old location? Jeremy hoped not, after all he was the one flashing the light in the fox's eyes. But that was necessary, Foxy was the only one who wasn't tricked by that Freddy mask. Whatever was going on between the three of them it was private and Jeremy wasn't one for spying on people - or in this case robots. He checked the camera on the right and saw... a pair of white eyes looking at him.

"Uh oh"

"What? Where is he?" Mike asked.

"He's coming down the corridor" Jeremy replied.

Quickly, Mike walked over to the door and hit the close button.

"So, do we just wait it out or escape by walking out of the other door?" Jeremy question "You do have a plan right?"

"Kind of. Whenever I checked the lights I would see Bonnie standing in front of the left door and Chica would be by the right window. If foxy wasn't in his cove then I would close the left door" Mike explained, recalling the events from before. "But its different with Freddy. You can't seen him very well in the dark, just his eyes. If he's standing in front of the corner camera on the right side then I would close the right door immediately"

"So we're just sitting ducks until Freddy leaves? Brilliant!" Jeremy remarked.

"I don't like it either, Jerry, but its the only plan we have" Mike argued. "Unless you want to take your chances with the others? Foxy is the quickest out of all of them"

Jeremy looked at Mike with a curious look. That was new, Mike never got angry at people before.

Mike sighed. "Sorry, its been a long day. I haven't been sleeping well lately"

Jeremy was about to reply when they heard knocking. It wasn't coming from the door it was coming from Jeremy's left. Slowly, Jeremy turned his head to the window and saw Freddy standing in front of it.

"AH!" He screamed.

"What?" Mike said.

"Freddy is standing right there!" Jeremy said whilst pointing at the window.

Mike frowned, not liking where this was going. He walked over to the window Jeremy was pointing at and, to his surprise, Freddy was standing in front of the window.

"Uh, Hi there" Freddy greeted whilst waving his right paw.

"W- what do you want?" Mike spluttered.

"This is just a misunderstanding. Please, don't be nervous. There is nothing to worry about" Freddy said. "I just wanted to talk to you"

"Nothing to worry about? Do you think we are dumb?" Jeremy yelled. "We let you in and you'll kill us"

"He does have a point" Mike chimed in.

"You have every right to not trust us but we really need to talk to you" Freddy insisted.

"So.. your not going to hurt us?" Mike said fearfully.

"Of course not, you have my word" Freddy promised.

The uncertainty hadn't left Mike but what other choice did they have? Of course, he could refuse him - Jeremy most likely wanted him to - but Freddy did promise to not hurt them. But if he was lying then they could sprint out of the other door, they were faster then the bear right? Mike walked over to the door, ignoring Jeremy's screams of protest as he opened the door and allowed the animatronic bear to come inside. He took a few steps back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What do you want?" He demanded.

"Firstly, to welcome you both back to Freddy's and to apologise for what happened last time" Freddy started.

"We did see some strange things" Mike said.

"Not to mention the blatant lies and people acting like nothing happened" Jeremy added.

"I know, its just... We don't know why we acted like that" Freddy muttered.

"So its not normal Ai programming?" Jeremy inquired. "I mean you guys do some pretty strange things. Looking at camera, trying to get inside the office. Its like your looking for somebody"

"Maybe we are. Maybe we're looking for somebody to give us answers" Freddy agreed.

_But the question was who were they looking for?_

"All right so is there anything else" Mike asked.

"There's is but... Well, perhaps it would be best if you followed me."

"Absolutely not!" Jeremy yelled.

Freddy sighed. "Do you want answers or not?"

That made Jeremy stop. Answers. That's all he ever wanted. He had some many questions, he was pretty certain Mike had some of his own. And as much as Jeremy didn't like it he had no choice but to go along with what Freddy was saying.

"All right but if you and the others try something..." Jeremy said hesitantly.

He followed Mike and Freddy out of the office. Freddy took them to the main party room where Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were waiting for them, talking amongst themselves. The chatter ended once they saw Freddy and the two night guards. Foxy turned to face them but once he saw Jeremy anger surfaced and his eyes flash dangerously.

"You!" The fox growled.

"Uh. Hi, Foxy, long time no see" Jeremy said. "You look a lot better then last time"

"No thanks to ye. Come here!" Foxy yelled.

Jeremy was about to run but Foxy was quicker. He grabbed Jeremy and pushed him towards the wall where he slammed Jeremy against it. Jeremy whined and tried to push the fox of it, he knew it would no good but at least he tried. He didn't miss the look in Foxy eyes.

He didn't have a flash light to defend himself with.

"FOXY!" Bonnie cried.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Freddy demanded.

"I remember what ye did. Ye and that dam flashlight" Foxy snarled, ignoring the screams of protest behind him.

"T-that was just self defence" Jeremy whimpered. "Scott said-"

"Be quiet!" The hook had dig slightly into Jeremy's shoulder. Jeremy winced at the pain. "It wasn't just me, was it. Ye hurt the others... Ye hurt Marina!"

"Marina? Don't you mean Mangle? I never hurt Mangle" Jeremy protested.

"LIER!"

"FOXY! STOP IT. YOUR HURTING HIM!" Chica yelled.

Foxy froze. He blinked a few times and, to his horror, and he saw Jeremy cowering before him. And his hook was in the man's shoulder. And... there was blood coming out of it. Immediately, Foxy removed himself from the night guard and Jeremy slid down to the floor. He started to calm himself down whilst Foxy was observing him. The fox then looked at his paw and his hook in disbelief and horror. What had he done? Why did he react like that?

"I'm sorry" He muttered before spiriting back to Pirate's cove.

"Foxy!" Chica called.

She was about to follow him when Freddy put a paw on her right shoulder.

"Leave him be" The bear told her.

They looked back at Jeremy. He was breathing normally again and Mike was by his side, trying to stop the bleeding. Freddy told Bonnie to go to backstage and get the first aid kit. Bonnie did as he was told and, as quickly as he left, he back with the box. He gave it to Mike who started working on Jeremy's shoulder.

"What was all that about?" Mike asked. "And who's Marina?"

"Foxy still has some anger from the past. Whilst we have mostly moved on from all of that Foxy still has a hard to coping with it" Freddy answered. "As for Marian... Well, that was the name that was given to Toy Foxy when she was whole"

"Before she was teared apart by the children she used to be a storyteller, she would read to the children" Chica added. "And at night, when we didn't have somebody watching us, she would read to us"

"Well, its better then being called Mangle" Jeremy commented. "Ugh. I feel sick"

"Well, you did get attacked by Foxy" Bonnie remarked. "He does have a good grip"

Jeremy nodded in agreement. Looks like he wasn't getting his answers today, but that was okay. He was promised answers to his questions so he would gladly wait another day. But there was something else on his mind.

"By the way how come you guys can talk? The brunette asked. "Could you talk before or is this something new?"

"I think its part of the upgrades. We haven't been able to communicate before, other then pre recorded messages but they had there limits." Freddy told him.

"And its a lot more useful as well" Bonnie added. "Especially when talking to children. I don't think anybody could understand us before"

"The phone guy did mention that you guys could walked around during the day" Mike recalled. "So does that mean you can walked around again?"

"Yes, but only when we are not performing on stage" Freddy replied. "Anyway you two should go back to the office. Its almost morning"

"And Jeremy looks like he could use a lie down" Mike agreed.

He helped Jeremy up and slowly guided him to the office. Bonnie and Chica made there way to stage but Freddy lingered for a moment.

"Oh, and Mr Schmidt" The bear called

"Yes?" Mike asked as he turned to face the bear.

"There is something we need to discuses tomorrow" Freddy informed him. "We know what you did"


	4. Rekindle

Down the rabbit hole  
Chapter 3: Rekindle

* * *

Morning arrived all too quickly for Fritz, yet he made a promise to himself that he would arrive at the pizzeria early. He wanted to check in on Mike and Jeremy. There was no denying their experience but anything could go wrong at the pizzeria. And considering the track record for loosing employees mysteriously he wanted to make sure that they were okay. Besides he felt it was his responsibility to do so. After all he was the one who defended Mike when his boss was drilling him. What else could he do? Mr Johnson was yelling at him, not giving Mike the chance to explain himself as best he could, and was ready to throw him out. If Fritz hadn't step in when he did Mike would have the job he so desperately needed.

There again what was Mike hiding in the first place? And why does he need the night guard job when he was the one who got fired for tampering with the animatronics? There was something about it that was bothering Fritz. Whatever Mike's secret was he didn't feel comfortable talking about it. He didn't want to push the night guard but maybe he could help him in some way.

When he arrived at the pizzeria the first thing he saw was the car in the parking lot. Surprisingly, there was only one car and not two. So either the two night guards carpooled together or one of them made there own way to the pizzeria. Next he noticed the light in the building were on. That probably meant the night guards were still in the building, they couldn't leave until the janitor showed up. Fritz exited out of his car and made his way to the door. He opened the door, Jeremy must have opened them, and walked inside. Passing the reception desk he entered the main party room and saw Mike and Jeremy sitting at one of the tables. Only Jeremy was awake, Mike looked like he was sleeping.

When he walked over to them Jeremy was the first to noticed him.

"Hey, Fritz" Jeremy greeted. "Your here early"

"Morning, Jeremy. I came in early to check in on you two" Fritz replied. "Seeing as I was the one who defended Mike yesterday I took it upon myself to look out for him, you as well"

"What happened to Mike yesterday?" Jeremy inquired.

"Well, Mr Johnson was yelling at him yesterday and wasn't allowing him to talk, even though Mike wanted his old job back. He seemed... upset about the whole thing" Fritz told him. "I merely step in when Gavin was ready to throw him out"

"Really? Mike never told me that"

"He didn't?" Fritz questioned.

"No, all we talked about was the old location and the animatronics" Jeremy replied. He turned to look at Mike. "That explains why our Boss wanted me to watch him"

"Don't be too hard on him, Jeremy. Mike has his reasons, he'll open up eventually" Fritz consoled him.

"Maybe" Jeremy said. He didn't like it but they were meeting later today so maybe Mike would talk to him about it later. "Anyway we better get going. Sleeping Beauty here needs his beauty sleep and I'm almost out of energy"

"Don't call me names" Mike murmured.

Raising his head Mike looked at both of them coldly before standing up and walking out of the room. Jeremy and Fritz looked at each other in confusion. Did they say something wrong? Jeremy said a quick good bye to Fritz, with the dark brunette in turn telling him to drive safely, before hurrying after Mike before the redhead could hurt himself. With nothing else to do until the Janitor showed up Fritz decided to give the place a proper look over. He trusted the night guards but considering one of them was under close supervision he needed to make sure that nothing was damage.

He checked each of the rooms carefully, starting with the main party room first. The animatronics appeared to be fine and in proper working order, though Gavin would probably have somebody check on them before they opened. After that he went backstage, the men's bathroom, the kitchen (which was tidy for once), the separate party rooms and the closet with the cleaning supplies in it. They were all clean and tidy and nothing was broken. Satisfied with what he saw Fritz made his way to the security office. Once there he brought up last nights feed.

He wasn't surprised to animatronics moving. Anybody who had applied for a job at Freddy's knew that they had to move around at night or their servos would lock up. Somehow those words were always taken out of context. Most believed that it was just a rumour, that the Pizzeria wasn't haunted. Some believed that it was just slander against the company. Whilst others used that information to prank the new employees. Fritz didn't believed it for a second. It was just rumours, speculation and practical jokes - the latter of which Fritz could not stand.

As he was checking the feed he started to regretted it. It was just another boring job, nothing interesting was happening. Fritz started to skip through most of it until he saw something different. He was on the camera that was overlooking the main party room. He saw Bonnie, Chica and Foxy standing by the tables, Bonnie and Chica were talking to each other whilst Foxy was humming. A few seconds later Freddy comes into frame with Mike and Jeremy behind him (Weren't they suppose to stay in the office?) Before any interactions could happen Foxy bolts towards Jeremy and slams him into the wall. Fritz watched in horror as Foxy kept the night guard there for a few minutes. There was some sort of interaction going on between the two of them before Foxy dig his hook deeper into Jeremy's shoulder. Somehow Foxy was snapped out of his rage by Chica, he looks at his paws for a brief second before running of to Pirate's Cove.

To his surprise it was Mike who was trying to stop the bleeding Freddy said something to Bonnie and rabbit rushes of to backstage room. When he returned he was carrying a small box which, when he was close to the group, he gave to Mike. After that the redhead starts patching Jeremy up.

"There's more to that kid then meets the eye" Fritz muttered "I wonder... No, that was a long time ago. I doubt he still remembers..."

Still, there was one matter that needs to be taken care of.

Foxy.

He needs to find out what happened between the Pirate Fox and the night guard. He hoped it was just a misunderstanding and not a malfunction. Ever since they brought back and fixed Foxy he was starting to becoming popular with the kids again. It would be a shame if something happened to him again. And bad for business.

With that in mind Fritz made his way to Pirate's cove. It was only a short work to the pirate theme room since Fritz power walked his way to the door, despite having at least another half another until the Janitor showed up. When he was outside said room Fritz turned the door knob and walked inside. The light were turned off. Instead of turning them all on he only turned the stage lights on so wouldn't be bumping into things. He found Foxy sitting on the floor by the Pirate Ship with his head looking at the ground. The brunette walked over to him.

"Foxy? Are you awake, Captain?" Fritz said.

Foxy didn't look at him.

"I know you and the others can hear me, Captain" Fritz said again this time more loudly.

But Foxy still wouldn't move. It was like he wasn't there at all, and all there was left was this animatronic. Fritz was starting to loose his patience.

"Please, Captain. I really need to talk to you" Fritz begged. Oh, if only his brother could see him now. He would be having a field day. "Its about what happened last night"

"What do ye want?" Foxy asked.

"I was watching the camera feed from last night. I know what happened between you and Jeremy" The brunette told him. "I'm not jumping to any conclusions but I need to know what happened between the two of you"

"What else is there to tell ye? Once I saw the landlubber I attacked him" Foxy responded.

"Yes but nobody attacks somebody without reason unless they are drunk" Fritz replied. "Something must have happened between the two of you. That, or you malfunctioned"

Foxy looked away, making a hissing sound in the process (Though to Fritz it sounded like a growl) He remembered _that_ all too well. _It wasn't his fault. _

"Uh, Foxy, you still there, Captain?" Fritz asked.

"Aye lad" Foxy replied before turning back to the brunette. "As for what happened last night... I can't say it was an accident. I... I lost control again but it wasn't a malfunction. It was more out of anger, really"

"What do you mean?" Fritz questioned.

"I wasn't provoked, if that's what your wondering. I remembered him from the last location. Him and that stupid flashlight" Foxy explained. "I thought he was going to hurt again. And when he mentioned _that name... _I just lost it"

What was Foxy talking in about? What happened to them last time and who's name did Jeremy mention?

"Am I going to be dismantled again?" Foxy asked.

"Uh, no, at least I don't think so. As long as this doesn't happen again, and Mr Johnson doesn't find out, you should be golden" Fritz replied, snapping out of his thoughts. "Anyway I better go, the Janitor's going to turn up soon so I better go and help him. And try not to let this incident get you down, Captain. We can't have our beloved Captain down in the dumps now, can we?"

That seemed to cheer the Pirate Fox up, as Foxy started laughing. Fritz decided to leave him to it and made his way out of Pirate's cove. Despite having the answers he needed he couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Who's name did Jeremy mention? And why did Foxy react the way he did?

* * *

Later that afternoon Jeremy made his way to the coffee shop. For once he slept well, he wasn't bothered by any nightmares and he did accidently slept past his alarm thankfully, his sister woke him up. Before leaving he took a shower and changed into some casual clothes (White shirt, dark blue trousers, black sneakers and a black jacket) He was almost out of the house when his Mother stopped him. She told him to have something to eat before going out.

As he was driving his thoughts turned to last night, mainly Freddy's promise and Foxy's attack. He didn't blame Foxy for attacking him, if anything he made the situation worse by bringing up Toy Foxy's horrible name. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the Toy animatronics after the incident. Scott told him that they were being put in storage until they were moved to a new location but, considering what happened with Toy Foxy, were they moved or not? Were they still in storage or were they dismantled?

Ten minutes later Jeremy arrived at the coffee shop. He parked his car and made his way inside. It was surprisingly quiet for a Tuesday afternoon. Jeremy made his way to the counter and place an order for a drink. As he was waiting he scanned the area for Mike. He saw the redhead sitting at the back of the coffee shop. He was wearing a beige jacket with red plaid on the inside, white shirt, blue trousers and black shoes. On the floor he could see a brown messenger bag. There was a drink and a plate of half eaten food on his left side but he wasn't looking at it. Instead he was looking at the table with a pencil in his right hand. When his order was ready, Jeremy payed for it and took it with him to Mike's table.

"Hey, Mike" Jeremy greeted.

Mike jumped, dropping his pencil in the process. He saw Jeremy taking a seat in front of him. Sighing, he closed the book before him and put it away. Looks like he wasn't getting any more work done today.

"Jeremy, don't scare me like that!" Mike exclaimed.

"Sorry. I didn't realise you were busy" Jeremy apologised.

"Its fine, I"m just working on something for a friend" The redhead replied. He took a sip of his drink before talking again. "How's the shoulder?"

"There is some dull pain but its not bleeding anymore" Jeremy told him. "My shirt was ripped a little. Luckily, Mum's stitching it. Oh, and thanks by the way, for helping me last night"

"No problem. I've have had some practise so I know what I am doing" Mike said.

_Praise yourself, Mike, even if nobody else will do it for you._

Mike took a bit out of his sandwich whilst Jeremy took at sip of his drink. At the back of his mind the same question kept entering his head. He knew it was time to ask the vital questions.

"So, Where have you been for last thirteen years?" Jeremy question.

Mike looked away, an uncomfortable feeling came over him. Somehow he knew Jeremy would ask him that. But... he couldn't remember. The last few years had been... hard on him.

"I... I don't know. I don't remember much about my childhood, that's why I didn't recognise you when I saw you yesterday" Mike replied. "I just starting living at Aisha's house one day, I can't even remember how I came to live there"

It was frustrating. There have been many times when Mike had questioned his past. Yet, no matter what he did he couldn't find the answers he was looking for. He tried asking Aisha but she was very vague with her responses. Sometimes Mike wondered if she actually had the answers he needed or not. He trusted her, after all she had practically been a Mother for him whilst he was living at her house but he couldn't help but wonder if she was hiding something from him.

"I want nothing more but to find out who am I, who my family are and why they left me behind" Mike said. "And, if I'm not getting any help from her then I guess its time to move on. Once I saved up enough I'm finding a place of own, whether she likes it or not"

"That's not a bad idea, I could help you if you want" Jeremy offered.

"Your doing enough all ready, Jeremy, but thanks for the offer" Mike replied. "But enough about me and my problems. What have you been up to?"

"Oh, you know, the usual. Dealing with somewhat deadly animatronics, moving from other hectic job to another" The brunette replied. "Dads still up to his usually antics, Mums recently got a new job and Lucy working towards becoming a teacher"

"Never a dull moment in the Fitzgerald household, huh" Mike remarked.

"You could say that" Jeremy replied.

The duo started laughing. It was just like old times. A friendship rekindled. Its like they had been together all this time. Nobody was missing and they were back to being children. When things were a lot more simpler.

Then Mike remembered something from last night.

"Jeremy, I have been meaning to asking you something. When we received that phone call last night the Phone Guy mentioned something about an incident. I noticed you shuddered when he brought it up" The redhead said.

Jeremy didn't know what to say, he... he didn't want to go through that again. He opened his mouth, tried to find some sort of answers that would tell Mike what he wanted to know before closing it again. Jeremy calmed his nerves and took a moment to collect himself. Despite his fears on the subject he knew at some point he would have to go through it again, if he wanted to get justice for Carlos's family.

"Do you remember how I told you about the old location?" Jeremy eventually said. Mike nodded in response, allowing Jeremy to continue. "Well, as I already told you, I used to work there. I was there until my sixth night until I was moved to the dayshift. So, that following morning, there was a birthday party, one more before the placed was closed for good. Sadly, the event didn't end well"

"What happened?" Mike asked.

"There was... an accident. Before the party there was an investigation. A police officer by the name of Carlos Jones came to Freddy's, he was investigating a series of strange events that had happened at Freddy's. He and his partner, Diana Winters, came to the location on my third night. They had heard about the rumours about the animatronics and wanted to see it for themselves so I let them join me that third night" Jeremy explained. "Fast forward to the day of the party and, well, Carlos was attacked by one of the animatronics. Somebody, and I guessing it was the person who Carlos and Diana were looking for, tampered with Toy Foxy and she attacked him in the Parts and Service room"

"That horrible!" Mike exclaimed. "Who would do something like that?"

"Some sick asshole. They didn't tell me what they had done but Carlos and Diana were looking for them for a reason" Jeremy replied.

"Did you witness this?" Mike asked.

"I heard a sound coming from the parts and service room, a screeching sound. Scott was with me at the time and when he went to investigate we saw Mr Jones under Toy Foxy. There was blood on Toy Foxy's teeth, marks on Carlos's neck and head" Jeremy told him. "I... I still have nightmare about the whole ordeal. That the same thing was going to happen to me"

Mike was taken back by the whole thing. The whole story was upsetting. It never occurred to him that was something much more sinister going on then he original thought. It wasn't just a game of survival anymore, there was something else going on. There again there was something strange about the phone calls he received. As for the story about the Police Officer... that was messed up, who in there right mind would do something like that? What about Jeremy? How was he dealing with this? He looked into Jeremy's eyes, he could of sworn he saw fear and horror in them. Jeremy wasn't cooping well.

"So, what are you going to do?" Mike asked.

"I want to get justice for Carlos's family and find the person who did. There's something going on, Mike, and it has something to do with Freddy's and that person Carlos and Diana were looking for" Jeremy replied.

"Is that a good idea? You told me you still have nightmare about the whole thing" Mike question.

"I want to do this, Mike. I promise Carlos's family that I would get justice for them, I intend to do that" Jeremy insisted. "Not only that but I want to closer for myself. I want to move on from this, Mike, but I can't. I keep seeing what happened that day in my nightmares, what could of happened to me. I have to deal with this"

Mike sighed. "All right, I won't stop you. But at least let me help you. I can't let you go through this alone"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Pizzeria, Fritz was sitting in the Security office checking through the camera. Mr Johnson had put him surveillance duty which was just as boring as the night guard job. At least he could leave the room whenever he wanted, providing that he took the tablet with him. So far everything was running smoothly. It was just another normal day at Freddy's. There was no birthday party but everybody was doing the best to keep customers happy, animatronics included. Fritz checked on Pirates Cove, Foxy was doing better then what he saw earlier. He was interacting with the kids just fine. Mr Johnson was busy in his office going over paperwork.

And that gave Fritz the perfect opportunity to do a little research.

He checked the left and right doors before bring up a search engine. You never know who could be watching you, or who could be entering the security office at any given point. Fritz moved his hands to the keyboard. He was about to start typing but he heisted for a moment. What was he meant to be searching for? It wasn't as if he could get a direct answers about previous locations . He typed in 'Previous Freddy's locations' and he hit the search button. As predicted the responses he got were very vague. There was information about current Freddy's location, closed ones, one that had been set on fire. As he was scrolling down there something that caught his interest. It was a newspaper article going over an event that happened at the 'New and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.'

One of animatronics attacked a Police Officer.

The different between this attack and the one Foxy told him about was that this wasn't out of anger or a malfunction.

It had been premeditated.

According to the article one of the animatronics, Toy Foxy, had been tampered with. Apparently, due to the condition that Toy Foxy was in, the Manager - Joseph Griffin - had decided to move Toy Foxy into a parts and service room. Toy Foxy had once been actual animatronic, a pink and white fox who used to tell stories and entertain the children with her Pirate adventures. However, she kept getting ripped apart by younger children and eventually the staff gave up on her all together as they kept having to repair her. On the day of the incident the Pizzeria was having one last birthday party before closing for good. The Police Officer in question, Carlos Jones, had been a part of an ongoing investigation to do with an missing children. Though nobody knows why Mr Jones was at the Pizzeria in the first place he was seen on security camera making his way to the parts and survive room when the attack happened.

It was two employees who worked the dayshift who found Mr Jones. Mr Scott Cawthon and Mr Jeremy Fitzgerald had heard the commotion from the main party room where the animatronics: Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica, would preform for the children, with the former being the one to call for paramedics. Mr Fitzgerald hasn't made at comment about the whole ordeal due to shock, whilst Mr Cawthon only made a brief statement. Fazbear entertainment offered the Mr Jones's family their condolences and apologised for what has happened. It is unclear if Mr Jones made a full recovery.

"So, the person in question was actually an animatronic called Toy Foxy. She had been badly damaged on several occasions and the company refused to repair her. She and Foxy must have been close, almost like family" Fritz muttered. "Jeremy knew about this. So did Scott..."

_Why does it still hurt to say his name?_

"What kind of person does something like that? And for what reason?" Fritz said.

To him the answer had been fairly obvious.

Somebody with malicious intent, with a grudge against the company.

Well, it wouldn't be the first time he dealt with somebody like that, would it?


	5. More questions than answers

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 4: More questions than answers.

* * *

It was surprisingly quiet in the Thompson household. Mike was sitting in the living room, waiting for Jeremy to show up. He kept glancing at the clock on wall. It was currently ten to eleven, Jeremy should been arriving any minute. He kept bouncing his right leg, a habit of his. He was nervous. He remember what Freddy told him last night. _We know what you did._ They knew he had tampered with them six months ago. What else could he do? If he continued working at the Pizzeria six months ago then he would of ended up like the others. Besides he already has his own problems...

Mike stopped himself from panicking. He calmed his breathing, now wasn't the time to get worked up. He needed a clear head before dealing with the animatronics.

He heard the door open, he tried not to groan as he heard somebody entering the house. Mike had hoped that he would be gone before they got back. A few seconds later a man, with black hair and green eyes, entered the living room. He was dressed smartly, he and his partner had just came back from a evening out. He was wearing a light blue button up shirt, a brown belt with a silver buckle in the middle, grey trousers, black shoes and a black jacket with a pocket on the left side. He took one look at Mike before scowling.

"What are you still doing up?" He demanded.

"I'm waiting for my friend to pick me up. We work the night shift" Mike replied, before turning away to face the window and muttering. "Not that you care..."

"Don't use that tone with me you little..."

"Johnathan, what going on?" A women asked, entering the room in the process. She had long black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a blue dress that went below the knees and black, flat shoes. She turned to Mike. "Michael? Why are you still up?"

"Apparently, he has a job" Jonathon told her before Mike could say anything. "Did you know anything about this, Aisha?"

"He told me this afternoon, that's why he came in tired this morning" Aisha replied. "It never occurred to me that he was working every night shift"

"Really?" Johnathan said before turning back to Mike. "So, what is this mysterious job of yours?"

"I work at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. I'm one of the Security Guards" Mike told him.

Johnathan started laughing, whilst Aisha looked him with confusion. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria? Was that the place he was fired from four months ago? Why would he want to go back there?

"Johnathan" Aisha scowled.

"I-I'm sorry b-but that's hilarious" Johnathan crackled. "The c-children restaurant. But what did I expect? Some fancy job with a high paying salary. They must be desperate to hire you"

Mike closed his eyes. He wouldn't let them see his tears. He expected something like this. Somehow he knew Johnathan wouldn't approve of his job (There again the man worked with scrapped metal for a living so how was his job more stupid then his own?)

"I didn't want this job..." Mike muttered.

Johnathan heard him. "But what other choice did you have, Michael? What qualifications do you have that would grant you your dream job? Your a stay at home artist who is taking advantage of our generosity, Aisha's generosity. Its time you payed it back"

"Johnathan, that's not true..." Aisha said.

Mike couldn't take it anymore, he hadn't been listening to them anyway. He quickly fled the room and left the house, he heard Aisha yelling for him but he didn't turn back. The tears he had been holding back finally left his eyes. It was always like this... but sometimes it was worse.

"Mike?"

He looked up and saw Jeremy standing before him. The brunette was looking at him with concern on his face. Mike compose himself, brushing away the tears as he walked over to Jeremy.

"Hi, Jeremy" Mike said.

"Are you alright? You look upset" Jeremy asked.

"I-I'm fine" Mike heisted. He knew he was lying. "Can we just go? Please?"

"Sure" Jeremy agreed.

He made his way back to his car, Mike followed after him. When they were both seated Jeremy started the car and drove of. As they were making there way to the Pizzeria Jeremy turned his head to look at Mike for brief second before turning back to watch the road. He had never seen Mike like this before. Maybe when they were younger, but that was down to either one of them falling on the ground and scarping their knees.

"So, about what happened back there, do you want to talk about it?" Jeremy asked.

"Somebody doesn't approve of my job, he thinks its a joke" Mike replied.

"Would he think that if he saw what really happens at night" Jeremy questioned.

"He wouldn't step inside the Pizzeria. let alone work the nightshift" Mike said. "He said that they must have been desperate to hire me. The sad thing is I agree with him. Before the renovations the place was falling apart. The animatronics hadn't been repaired for a long time and, according to Scott, they hadn't a bath in a long time - I guess by that he means that haven't been cleaned thoroughly. Besides Mr Johnson gave me the job straight away, there were no call backs and nobody was waiting to be interviewed"

Jeremy nodded, seeing where Mike was coming from. It seems like Fazbear entertainment were looking to hire anybody these days. Like Mike he had an easy interview with his old boss. There were no call backs and he had only been the only person waiting for the interview. And from the phone call on his first night Scott had told him that he was the second person working the night shift.

"Are you sure your okay?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm fine" Mike insisted.

_He was used to it by now. _

"How are you going to start this investigation of yours?" Mike asked, changing the subject.

"Remember how Freddy promised me some answers? If Foxy remembers me from the old location then I'm guessing the others do too" Jeremy explained. "I plan on asking them if they remember anything about the old location. See if they saw any suspicious, or if they could give us any insight on the Toys"

"Sounds like a good plan" The redhead replied.

Jeremy paused for a moment before continuing. "We need to check the suits in the back room too, and any other phone calls that Scott left for us. Think about it, Mike, if Scott wanted us - or, in this case, you - to check the suits in the back room then has to be something more to those phone calls"

"You might be onto something there, Jerry" Mike agreed.

At least they had something to go on. The phone calls were definitely important. When he had first heard them four months ago he thought the Phone Guy was joking, which was the logical reason at the time (animatronics moving around at night. Trying to stuff you inside a suit, yeah right) But after seeing it for himself, how close they had gotten to his office and had almost killed him, he knew the Phone Guy wasn't lying (especially after what happened on his fourth night) There again what else did the Phone Guy know?

He sounded frantic when he was talking. Frantic and blind to the truth. But maybe there was a reason for that. After all he was leaking information that company was trying to hide, unintentional of course. Maybe it had been all an act? If that the case then what was he hiding? Maybe he had found something out that he wasn't suppose to. Jeremy would know more about it.

* * *

Pulling up to the Pizzeria Jeremy parked his car in the parking lot and the duo exited the car. Jeremy walked over to the doors, opened them and allowed Mike to walk in first. Jeremy walked in, closed the doors and lock them, preventing anybody from getting inside. Mike decided to head to the security office whilst Jeremy made his way to the men's room.

Since he had the time to spare Mike decided to listen to old phone calls again, he could easily tell Jeremy everything later. If what Jeremy said was true then maybe they could find out more information about the on goings at Freddy's, or the mysterious person for that matter.

Besides, there was one phone call he wanted to listen to again.

Mike flipped through the second and third ones, he was going to listen to those later. For now he played the fourth one.

_"Hello, hello? Hey! Hey, wow, night 4. I knew you could do it.  
Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow. *banging sound* It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you *clears throat* uh, when I did._

_Uh, hey, do me a favour. *bang bang* Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? *bang bang* I'm gonna to try to hold out until someone checks. Maybe it won't be so bad. *bang bang* Uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. *chime plays*._

_You know...*moan* oh, no "  
_

Mike was conflicted. On one hand Scott could've met a terrible end and the animatronics could of stuffed him in a suit. But on the other hand Scott could have survived somehow. He didn't believe that, not after Scott went into great details about the animatronics and what they do at night. And, like he had told Jeremy before, these phone calls were made months ago. Still, though, there was something to consider. Which one of the animatronics did it? It sounded like they all had a part to play in the man's demise. Bonnie and Chica were banging on the doors, trying to drain the power. Freddy played his music. Foxy might have been the one to kill him.

He could ask them about it.

But would they trust him enough to tell him their secrets?

He doubt that, besides he still had to answers their questions first.

Mike turned to the right door and saw Jeremy entering the room.

"Sorry about that, I got distracted by Bonnie" Jeremy apologised.

"Bonnie?" Mike turned to the clock on wall. It was a little past midnight. "Oh, I didn't notice"

"Yeah, something about setting up a prank in the toilets. I managed to stop him from going through with it... with a little help from Freddy" Jeremy explained before taking a seat in the available chair. "So, about those phone calls, have you listen to any of that yet?"

"Just the one that plays on the fourth night..."Mike trailed off. This was going to be difficult, considering how Jeremy reacted when he found out Scott was dead. "I could play it again, if you like, but this was his last message..."

"Oh..." Jeremy muttered.

He said that they need to check the phone calls, but this was going to be difficult to listen to. Jeremy wasn't a relative of Scott's, least of all a friend of his, but he did work with him. Jeremy already knew the harsh truth behind Mr Cathon's final night so listening to what actually happened shouldn't be a problem. And, yet, this man had been nothing but kind to him and clearly Freddy's meant something to him.

"Play it" Jeremy said.

"Are you sure?" The redhead questioned.

"Yes"

Mike played phone call again. He kept a close eye on Jeremy, who had been looking away from and clenching his trousers. There was no reaction to the bangs, or to Scott's rambling. He just put his head down and closed his eyes. And, when the moment came, he saw Jeremy flinch. They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Jeremy turned to Mike, his eyes opening as he went.

"Mike, if by some miracle..." Jeremy started.

"Somehow I doubt it, Jerry, but at least we can fulfil his last requests." Mike said. "And, if we do find his body, then we should let Gavin know, maybe he could tell the family..."

Jeremy nodded, it was the least they could do. He decided to leave the office, telling Mike that he need a moment before he talk to the animatronics. Probably the best thing he could do after hearing that, Mike thought.

Since he was on his own again he decided to do a quick check through of the camera. They might be on friendly terms with the animatronics now, but he wanted to see what they were doing. Besides, technically, he still had a job to do. Checking through the camera he saw Bonnie sitting on the stage playing his guitar, Chica was in the kitchen creating a mess (Or, maybe she was doing something else?) and Freddy was loitering in the corridor near the bathrooms - looks like he was cleaning something. Mike checked on Foxy but the pirate hadn't left Pirates Cove, maybe he was still guilty about last night.

With the animatronics busy Mike took the opportunity to check the backroom. He didn't want to sneak around behind the animatronics backs but, considering he was about to look for a possible dead body, it was better to work with any distractions. There again Bonnie was the only one who entered the backroom anyway so that shouldn't be a problem. He made his way to the main party room and entered the backstage room.

The backstage area had been used as a storage room. It had the same black and white checkered flooring as the rest of the Pizzeria and there were a few wires on the wall (What were they used for, and why were they on the wall in the first place?)On the shelves were spare animatronic heads of Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. In the middle of the room was a wooden table and sitting on top of the table was wired skeleton that resembled an animal, that must have been one of the endoskeletons that Scott had been talking about.

Mike walked over to the nearest spare head, one of the Freddy ones. He looked over it carefully, looking out for anything suspicious., before picking up the head and looking inside. There was nothing inside. He checked the rest of the but there was nothing of them either. There again could you really hide a dead body inside of them? Maybe if they were chopped up into tiny pieces but after a while there would be a lingering smell and somebody would probably noticed the blood.

Mike turned to the left side of the room.

There was a door on the right side on the wall. Whenever he had been checking the backstage camera for Bonnie he had never noticed it. There again the camera was positioned to be overlooking the right side of the room and the door leading to the main party room. Curiosity got the better of him, he could help but wonder what was in there. Mike walked over to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. There was a keyhole. Mike looked through it but all he could see was darkness.

Mike froze.

He felt somebody touching his shoulder.

Slowly, he turned around. There was nobody there. All of the heads were looking at him. There was a slight glow coming from the eye sockets. Mike felt his heart racing as he walked around. He had seen this before, when he was checking the cameras, but he thought he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes but nothing changed. He walked over to the heads, he could've sworn he heard a few whispers and murmurs coming from them. It sounded like they were saying _"Help us"_

He heard somebody giggling. It sounded young and male. Mike turned around.

Sitting on the table was a spare Freddy suit, the endoskeleton had disappeared. Mike walked over to it, though he immediately regretted it when he smelt a something horrible coming from it. Pinching his nose Mike went closer to it. There were a pair of eyeballs, with hazel iris, and a pair of teeth, adult teeth by the looks of it, sticking out - the left eyeball had been popped out. Mike gulped, Scott wasn't joking when he was talking about that. He reached for the Freddy head and took it off.

Mike tried not to gag. There was a body inside. Well, it was more of a mutilated corpse. The face was cracked and had dry blood on it. Some of the skin had been peeled away. From what Mike could see the head and shoulders had been pierced.

Mike had to force himself to back away, he didn't advert his eyes away from the sight in front of him. The Freddy had dropped from his hand but no sound was make.

He bumped into something. He felt hands touching his shoulders.

"It's me" Somebody whispered.

Mike screamed and ducked under the table. He was on knees hunch over, his eyes were shut and he was having a hard time time breathing. The door opened and Bonnie and Chica entered the room. The chicken looked around the room and noticed Mike on the floor looking distrested. She walked around to the other side of the table and knelt down as best she could. She brought Mike closer and gave him a hug, saying words of comfort to help calm him down. Bonnie looked aroound the room, trying to find the source of the problem. When Mike had finally calm down Chica helped him stand up.

"What happened?" Chica asked.

"I felt somebody touching my shoulder but when I turned around nobody was there. Then the spare heads were looking at me and their eye sockets were glowing" Mike explained. "Then I heard somebody whisper 'It's me' behind me, that's why I screamed"

"Are you sure?" Bonnie questioned. "Everything looks fairly normal to me"

Mike looked around the room again. Everything was back to normal. The spare heads weren't looking at him, the glow was gone and the spare Freddy suit had disappeared. "B-but I could've sworn..."

"Maybe your eyes were deceiving you" Bonnie snickered

"Bonnie!" Chica scolded.

"What?"

"Did you do it? Were you pranking Mike?" The chicken demanded.

"Of course not. I was on the stage" Bonnie replied.

Chica was having a hard time believing him. Bonnie was known for his pranks. Most of them happened at night but since they gained the ability to speak he was starting to do them during the day, whilst enlisting some help from the children. There had been times where by she and Freddy had to stop him from carrying them out, Foxy didn't have a problem with Bonnie's behaviour and sometime he like to join in on it. But for now she decided to drop it, she probably have words with Freddy about it later. Besides she wanted to know what Mike was doing in this room in the first place. It wasn't of limits but, well, Mike had been fired before so he could've been doing anything in here.

"Why were you in here anyway?" She asked. "You weren't going to mess around in here, were you?"

"No, I was looking for something." Mike replied. He turned back to the door. "What's through that door over there?"

Bonnie and Chica shared a look with each other. Neither one of them knew what to say.

"We, um, we're not sure." Chica replied. "I think that's where we keep the generator, but only the manager is allowed down there"

That was reasonable. Yet, it took Chica awhile to come up with that answer. Could she be lying?

"Uh, anyway, we should go back to the main dining room. Freddy wants a word with you" Bonnie said.

Mike nodded as Chica and Bonnie left the room. So, it was time to talk to the bear. He had to forced himself to follow them, he didn't want to do this but he knew he had no choice. They were aware of what he did and they wanted answers from him. But... would he be able to tell them? He would tell them why he did it but... well, there two sides to every story.

* * *

_It was amusing watching him. He had no quarrel with the night guard, unlike the others - but that was because they had been led astray by **Him. **__However he couldn't allow the redhead to go into the basement. He couldn't let him see what was down there, regardless if they had good intentions or not. There wasn't anything incriminating down there but nobody was suppose to know about his existence. He had been abandoned a long time ago and, sadly, it had to stay that way. _

_At least for now. _

_Maybe one day he would reveal himself but only when it was absolutely necessary. _

_Besides he had others things to worry about. _

* * *

Back in the main party room Mike, Bonnie and Chica were waiting for Freddy. He had finished his little cleaning duty and he was checking up on Foxy. The Pirate Fox still hadn't left his cove and Freddy was worried about him. Foxy didn't like being left alone, that was down to years of neglect by the company, and Freddy had to carry on regular check up on him.

When Freddy left Pirate Cove he was greeted by Chica. She explained to him what happened in the Backstage room and Freddy just nodded in response. He would be having a word with Bonnie at some point.

"How's Foxy?" Bonnie asked. "Is he coming out of his cove?"

"No, he's not" Freddy replied. "He still feels bad about what he did to Jeremy. He just needs to time to himself, but he plans to apologise to him"

It wasn't ideal but it would have to do for now.

"Besides I think we have something that needs to be talked about" Freddy said. He walked over to Mike who was sitting down at the table. "Chica told me what happened in the back stage room. I can only apologise for that and it will not be happening again"

"Why did it sound like he was blaiming me?" Bonnie muttered.

Mike nodded in response. He didn't blame Bonnie for what happen, what he saw felt to spiritural then your average prank.

"Lets move on from that, shall we? Freddy said. "We still have something that needs to be discussed. I'm sure you remember what I told you last night?"

"You want to know why I messed with your AI system which lead to me getting fired" Mike replied. "I... I'm not sure how to tell you"

Freddy was taken back by that. It seemed like there was more to this story then he relised. He didn't want to press him, Mike had already gone through enough to night as it is, but he wanted answers.

"Its okay. Just tell us what you feel comfortable with sharing" Chica assured him.

Mike noded. "I really needed this job four months ago, still do. My... situation at the moment isn't good and i need the funds to move away"

"How bad is it?" Bonnie inquired, ignoring the looks Freddy and Chica were giving him.

"I rather not say" The redhead murmered.

"There no need to bring it up, Michael. If it makes you uncomfortable then you don't have to say anything" Freddy said.

"Thanks, Freddy" Mike replied before continuing. "When I started my first night I recieved a phone call and the person on the phone went into detail about what you guys did at night. At first I thought it was a prank and I thought nothing of it. But as the nights were going on and saw what you guys did, how close you guys were close to killing me, I thought I was trapped in a nightmare"

Mike paused for second before continuing "On my final night there was a note waiting for me on the desk. I'm not sure who left it, I didn't recognise the hand writing. They told me that I needed to get fired by messing with your AI systems or I wouldn't be able to leave Freddy's"

That was an interesting story, but at least now they had the answers they needed. Freddy didn't blame the night guard for what for what he did, even if it was dangerous. They acted differently back then, and they regreted their actions, but what else could they do? They saw the night guards without a suit on and it was against company policy for endoskeleton to be out of costume. When they did capture one of them... Well, that explained why there was a red substance coming out of the suit. If they hadn't been shown the errors of there ways they would still be doing it to this day.

"Firstly, I know it doesn't mean much, but I can only apologise for what we did. Secondly, what you did that night was dangerous and reckless, you could of ended up like the others if we captured you" Freddy said.

"I know but I really needed to get out" Mike replied.

"Its understandable, but also very stupid" Bonnie remarked. "You shouldn't have to risk your life for a job"

"Don't be hard on him, Bonnie. If anybody is to blame its us, not him" Chica said.

"I know that but..."

"Enough. We can talk about this another time." Freddy ordered, stopping the two of them from getting into an argument. "I still have one more question for Michael and I would appreciate it if you two would shut up"

Bonnie and Chica lowered their heads, mumbling an apology to Freddy.

"That's better, and I am sorry for snapping at the both of you" Freddy said. He turned back to Mike. "Now, Michael, about that note was there anything suspicious about it?"

Mike tried to remember the note in question. He still had it on him, it was locked away in a box full of paint supplies. He didn't think much about it, considering he had only a few minutes before the night shift started. He just thought somebody was giving him some friendly advice.

"I don't think so but I still have it on me. I can bring it with me tomorrow night" Mike replied.

"That would be for the best" Freddy agreed.

* * *

It was about an hour later when Jeremy decided to show up again. He joined the others at the table they were surrounded at and took a seat in the chair

"You okay?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, just needed some time to think" Jeremy told him. "If you not busy, Freddy, do mind if we have a talk? I've got some questions that need answering"

"Of course. I promised you would get them, didn't I?" Freddy said. "We can talk in private if you want"

"Actually, Bonnie and Chica can stay. If Foxy remembered me from before then they probably remember me as well" Jeremy replied.

That's what he was hoping for anyway.

"So, what do you want to know?" Freddy asked.

It took Jeremy a moment to gather his thoughts. He decided to go directly in instead of beating around the bush. "Do you guys remember the last location? You know the 'New and improved Freddy's'"

The reactions he got were... interesting to say the least. Freddy was lost in thought but he was surprisingly calm. Chica looked upset and Bonnie was angry.

"Oh, the last location with those plastic rejects" Bonnie grumbled. "Yeah, we remember them"

"Your just mad because your face was missing" Chica pointed out.

"That was my glories mug, Chica. You had your arms and beak stolen" Bonnie argued

Freddy sighed. Sometimes he felt like he was working with children.

"We do remember the last location, Jeremy. But, what you have to remember is that those were our loneliest moments. When the new location opened we thought were going to be the performing again. Before that some terrible happened at the location before that, we all malfunctioned at the same time and we ended up scaring at lot of children that day" Freddy explained. "We thought they were finally going to repair us and give us an updated look. But we were wrong. We had been replaced"

Jeremy noded. He remembered the Toys from the last location, it was hard not to considering what happened to Carlos.

"That location was only open for two weeks. For the first week we still had trouble processing the whole ordeal. How would you feel if you had been replaced after being loved by everybody for a certain amount of time?" Chica said. "We were angry. Angry that we had been replaced and used for spare parts. As for the Toys... well, they couldn't have been appropriate for children now, could they?"

"No, they weren't" Jeremy agreed. "Especially Toy Chica. She could of had a more sporty look about her but the company went with that design"

"That would have been more appropriate. But, as seem to recall, we all had issues with the Toys" Chica replied.

"Except for Foxy" Mike pointed out.

"What happened between the two group anyway?" Jeremy inquired.

Freddy looked thoughtful for a moment. "It was our second night in that building. We were told about them by a kind gentlemen, who spoke very highly of them but he felt sorry for us - especially for Foxy. Still, we had our concerns so we decided to meet face to face. They were not happy once they saw us. Toy Bonnie seemed frightened of us. Toy Freddy was angry, especially with me. He thought I was taking away his spotlight"

"I tried to help Toy Chica cook Pizza but we had some problems. I had to talk her through it since I was missing my arms. Toy Chica wasn't happy with my methods, she insisted on making healthier foods" Chica recalled.

"What happened to them anyway?" Bonnie asked. "We never saw them after the building closed. We just woke up one day and found ourselves repaired"

"I don't know. There was one more birthday party at the old location, after that they were going to be put in storage. But there was an incident" Jeremy replied. "A police officer by the name of Carlos Jones got attacked by one of the Toys. That animatronic in question was Toy Foxy. She had been messed with. She looked like something out of a nightmare. Nobody knows if Mr Jones survived"

Upon saying that there was a collection of upsetting words coming from the animatronics. It was understandable, nobody should have gone through that. Freddy had to look back at Pirate's Cove, to make sure Foxy hadn't come out. The last thing he wanted was Foxy coming out of Pirates Cove in a blind rage. Foxy had no issues with his Toy counterpart, unless it came down to the competing to see who was the better Captain.

"I hate to move on from this but I have one more question about the old location" Jeremy informed them. "Now I know things were different back then, but did you happen to see anything suspicious?

"There was one thing" Freddy replied. "A man came into the Parts and Service room once. He might have been an employee but it was hard to tell. There was something in his hands. I'm not sure what is was but he managed to damage us"

If that wasn't bad enough there was mysterious man going around damaging animatronics. How do you manage to do damage to an animatronic anyway?Whoever this person was must have a strong grudge against Freddy's. That's when Jeremy realised something. Carlos was attacked in the Parts and Service room. Freddy and the others animatronics were already in the Parts and Service room when the attack happened.

Could the two be connected?

Was the man who attacked the animatronics the same person Carlos and Diana were looking for?


	6. Something familiar

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 5: Something familiar.

* * *

_He was back in the office again. _

_It wasn't the one he shared with Mike. It was the one in the new and improved Freddy's, it was hard to forget what it looked like. The floor was black and white tiled, the walls had two layers of blue and white, with a blue and green tiled strip by the vents. There were colourful stars handing from the celling. I_n the middle of the room was a wooden desk_ with papers, a black fan and a drink on top of it. There were vents on the left and right walls and a large open door in front of him, on the walls by the door were a collection of papers. Above the door were two warning signs, and positioned neatly in front of the walls were a group of monitors with thick wires connected to them. On the left wall were posters of the Toy animatronics (Toy Freddy, Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica) with the words 'Celebrate' underneath them, on the right wall were a collection of children's drawings. _

_Like he remembered Jeremy was sat at the desk. He was checking the cameras, winding the music box up, checking the hallway in front of him and the vents on the left and on the right. It was the same routine he did every night, to make sure that the animatronics didn't come near him. _

_And yet, something felt out of place._

_He hadn't seen Mangle all night. She hadn't payed him any visits, she hadn't appeared on the camera - there again he barley had any time to check the camera since he had to keep the music box wound up and the other animatronics kept coming inside the office. But not Mangle. She hadn't come near him once. He couldn't help but wonder why Mangle wasn't making any appearances. The night didn't feel familiar to the ones he went through so maybe she was hiding somewhere. That, or she was broken beyond repair and couldn't move anymore. _

_When the night was over Jeremy found himself walking towards the Parts and Service room. He couldn't explain it. Something was drawing him to this room, something important. _

_Upon opening the door the first thing he saw was parts of metal on floor. Going in for a better look he noticed that Bonnie was sitting on the floor, Freddy and Chica were lying on the floor and Foxy was leaning against the wall. He had already seen them in a damaged condition, but they looked much more worse then before. Chica's and Bonnie's faces looked they had been smashed in. It looked like each the animatronics had been burnt, Chica was the worse out of the four of them. More of their endoskeletons were exposed. Freddy was missing both of his eyes, Foxy's colours had been dimed and looked like rust. Freddy's and Bonnie's bows had been broken into pieces. _

_As he got closer to the animatronics Jeremy heard a familiar sound - the sound a static radio. He looked up and, to his horror, he saw Mangle on the celling. He could make out the pink and white colours but a part from that she looked like a completely different animatronic. The paint on Mangle's head had chipped away, parts of her ears were missing and the insides were exposed, the mouth was broken and inside of it were a collection of sharp teeth. The body, arms. legs and feet were missing. Parts of her endoskeleton were missing and had turn to rust. The spare endo head was missing an eye and it mouth was broken as well._

_Now that he was alone with Mangle, Jeremy could hear the radio better._

_"̵̧̬̯̤̹̗͙͇͎̹̗͕̒͌̾͂͐̋͒͗̏̊̕1̶̡̧͍͙̬̭͕̣̺̳͖͍̏͗̓̀͒̌͆̈́́̃́0̴̣̰̰̯̹̞̟̗̟͕͛͌͗̅͊̊̿̅̎̇̽̃͒͝-̵̧̡̟͖͔͔͖̖͉͈̙͉͊̾̔̈̈́̑̔͛1̶̮̪̟͔͈̎"̷̛̛͔̜̱͎̭̼͍͍̻̼̯̥̰͙̈̉͂͊͆̐_

_̴̨̛̬͚̭̹̮̓_  
_̵̧͖͖̺͙̘̺͍̦̟̱͚̠̿͆͂̒̊͐́̓̚͜͠"̵̢̧̣͇̻̘̔̈́̿̀̍̊̊̇̑͂͘͜ͅW̵̛̤̙̰̏̈́̓̎͗̈́̈́͜͝͝͝ȩ̷̧̙̮̭̜̤͗̂͒̆̅̍̚͝ ̷̬͙̭̰̪͐͊̓́͋͌͗͘͜͝ḣ̵̳̬̼̌̓̆̈̕̚͘͜a̶̘̳̙̪̞͚̬̙̽͌̾̀͊̔v̵̲̼̬͛͊̈̀̓̈̿͝ḛ̶͍̦͓̗̱̰̩̫̬̲̉͒̀͗͜͝͝͝ ̶̛͓̝̜̇͗̊̄͆́̔̈̊̈́́͘ą̸͙̯͚̘̜̫͕̰̀̈́̔̿̑̂̀̑̂̊̂̌̑ ̷̳͕̋̎͛̈́͑͒͌̄͊̋b̷̼͊̈́̒́̅̈̽͗͌͐̕̕͝ớ̷͔͚̏̓̌̀̍̓͜͝͠͠ÿ̵̢̲̯̭̞̫̬̮̥̲̗̰͖̗̹́̍̄̒͠ ̷̧̰̼̜̟̖̩͚͒̽̇̀͆͛̇̾̎͘m̶̥̙̼͔̬̪̫͇̰̫̖̥̎̈́̊͂̽̅̀̄͌̽͂̚̕͜ĭ̵̡̧̢̛̱͍͇̗̥̤̣̘̙͈̪̌̐̿̃̕ş̷̨͓̪͓͊̆͐̆̉͊͊̐͠ş̷̧̧̟̘̱̳͎͇̹̥͇͋̆̉̔̾̈́͊͗͂̈͛̔̀̚̚i̸̛͎̓͐͆̿́̿͗́̽̏ǹ̷̛̟͎͙̗͓̪̯͔͚̝͎͛̿͂̔̆̒̌͊̓̾̋͝ͅͅģ̸̢͍̝̣̙̦̺̟͔̫̱̎́͋̽̃̃̔̒ͅ ̸͉͈̿̂͊̈́̊̋̇̓̋͝͝ͅh̸̨̧̰͖̰̲͓͇̺̩̏̈̍̃į̴̧̡̛̖̤̹̜̯͋̉̄̓́́͆͘̚̚͘ș̸̡̰̭͚̼͕͍̝͔͔͔̯̌͒̽̍̍̂̿̃̎̊̇͑͘ ̴̢̨̳̲̻̜̩̰̭̣̟̪̼̦͊f̴̯̳͙̲̜͊͒͂̀̅̍͛̈́́̃̂́̚͜ͅŕ̸̞̠̲̘̦̟̖̪̙̭̹̏̕͜ͅő̷̧̠̫̖̣̯͍͔͚̙̤́͛̎͒͆̇̏̿̊͒̈ͅͅn̵̹̰̤̞̜̞̙̱̗̺̋̽̂̔̈́́͑̈́͝͝t̸͔̘̫͓͉͈̜̻͓̜̠̖̑̍̃̆͘ͅa̴̧̨̮͎̗̝͔̝̫̫͔̘̥̓l̶̡̧̺̞̰͖̯̳̠͍͙͉͇̀̊͛̈̑̈́̈́̄̂̓̚͘͠͝͝ͅ ̸̛̻̗̝̯̲̪̘͖̺̼̀́̈̇̔̌̑͊̀̐́͛́͜ͅl̸̫̅̄̊o̸͚̟̳̓͆̚b̷̡̡̦͙̩̩̬̖̥̒̒̉̃͗̔̒̀ě̵̡̤̳̠͔̙̟̗̹͈̍̊͑̌̓.̴̢̰̗̫̩̥̍̽͂̄̾̍̈́̄̚͝͠"̸̧̠͔͍̏̐̕̕͠ ̷̨͈̣̹̣͔̮̪̮̘̖̘̙̠̓̌͂̂͝_  
_̶̢̭̫̪̘̯̞̫̓͆̈ͅ_  
_̵̧̢̮̳̩̰͎̬̲̪̪̝̦͉̎͋̉́̀̅̄̓́̚͠"̴̙͕̜̩͓̹̻͖͚̉̎̿̉̋̉̍̓̎̽̚̚̕͝͝H̴̡̞͕͔͂̀̏̇̂̽͘̚͘͠e̷̡̯̤̠̞͍͓͇̗̺̞̒͐̌͐'̶̡͕̭͔̝̣̫̜̫̟̘̠͂̈́̎ͅs̴̨͔̗̣͉̱̼̭̹̳̼͛̈͐̃̈́̅͌͒̃̎͝ͅ ̷̡̛͓̞̤͔̝̍ņ̵̹̹̹̖̤̰̖̮̗̤̙̬̞̼̒͋̂͛ó̵̼̝͖̼̞͕͔̩͘͜t̶̡̜̼̠̟̖̱̒ͅ ̵͕̩̉̾͘d̴̛̠̱͉͕̻͙̟͛͊͛͌̅́̌̑̀̈́͠ͅǫ̷̬͍̲̦̭͙̫͓̭͙̝̼̫̱͗̄í̸̛̮̍̓̃̓̂̌̎̓̈́̕̕͝ǹ̸͍͇͕̟͈̗͕̟̪͓̟̣͓̠͉̓͌̈́͘g̵̢̧̩̹̰̩̞͖͖͖͐́̇͋͂̒͘͜ ̴̡̺̹͈͈͚͇̰͇͙̬̯͚̩̍̿̐̀̌́̊͋̆̈̈̓͝s̸̢̧̨͔̼̦͍̻̗͎͉̝͍̪͂͊͑͛̂͝ͅo̸͙̮͚͈̿̊͌̂͒̎̇͊̀́̏͜͠ ̸͇̦̻̮̫̥̠̫̣̹͈͉̙̐͜w̵̛̼̻͆͊̎̓ͅe̷̛̯̣̪͗̏͂͊̄̚̚l̷̢̡̡͍̪̬͇̰̋̀͂͊͒͂ͅl̷̡̢̻͖̼̥̼̝͙̖̺̀̏̄͝.̸̧̭͖̹͎̖͕̻̭̺̆̈́̿̕"̶̡̘̹̬̐̉́͗̿̚_

_What did it mean? Jeremy had heard the familiar sound before yet he couldn't hear it properly. It sounded like a message but it had been scrambled, for what purpose he could only guess at. It could be anything. Maybe somebody was trying to hide something, something that nobody was suppose to know about. Jeremy could pick out a few words. He could've sworn he heard something that sounded like "Little Boy" but that's the only thing he could make out. _

_The last thing Jeremy saw was Mangle's head swinging down from the celling._

* * *

Jeremy jolted out of bed. He was sweating and was having trouble breathing. It took it him a few minutes to calm himself but that didn't stop him from shaking. It had been seen the same nightmare as before, once Jeremy was all to familiar with. Or, was it? He had nightmares about Mangle attacking him or seeing Carlos body in the Parts and Service room. But, why did he hear the radio?

He thoughts turned to the dream he just had. He couldn't decided if it was dream or a nightmare. Or, perhaps it was something else? But what was it? A vision, or something he was suppose to remember. Something important that was the key to unlocking all of the secrets that Freddy's had. If that was the case then what was he suppose to remember? Did it have something to with Mangle's radio?

Shaking his head Jeremy reached over to his bedside table and grabbed his phone. Turning it on he noticed that it as half one in the afternoon, a little earlier then what he set his alarm to but it would do for now. He knew he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep anytime soon, not after his recent dream - or, whatever it was. Instead he got out of bed and went straight for the bathroom, he decided to take a quick shower to wake himself up and to take his mind of the dream. Only his sister was in the house at the moment, their parents were at work - which was fine because he didn't want to deal with his Dad's antics at the moment.

After a quick shower, Jeremy grabbed a pair of clothes from his wardrobe and changed into them. After that he made his way downstairs and poked his head into the living room. Sitting on the couch was a young women in her early twenties with brown hair, a little darker than Jeremy's, and green eyes. She was wearing a light blue blouse with a floral design at the top and on the sleeves and black jeans. In her hands was one of her course books. For a brief moment she looked up and saw Jeremy's face.

"Hey, Jerry" She greeted. "I thought you weren't suppose to get for a another hour"

"Hey, Sis" Jeremy replied, coming into the room and taking a seat in the available arm chair. "I set my alarm for half two but I ended up waking up earlier"

"Did you have another nightmare?" Lucy asked.

Jeremy was about to response but he bit his lip instead. He wasn't hesitant to talk, it had been like this every time he had a nightmare. His therapist had encouraged him to talked about them whenever he had one, then she would try to interpret it as best as she could. He had a notebook in his room which had every single nightmare he had written inside, it was better to keep track of them that way so he could find out the similarities between.

"I'm not sure. It could have been, I was attacked by one of the animatronics. But at the same time I can't help but wonder if it means something more" Jeremy told her. "I feel like I'm missing something important but I don't know what it is"

He then went on to tell her about his dream, leaving no detail out as he told her every he saw. Already familiar with dreams about animatronics, Lucy listen on as Jeremy recounted his tale. When he was finished the young lady was quiet for a few minutes before replaying.

"Well, it sounds like whatever your missing has something with that animatronic" Lucy said. "What did you call it again? The Mangle?"

"Yes, but that's the name that was given to her by the employees at the previous location. She was Foxy replacement when the company brought in the Toys" Jeremy replied. "Although, I have learnt recently that her name is Marina"

"That's a pretty name. I'm sure she would've have loved it, she would have preferred it instead of being called Mangle" Lucy commented. "Anyway, that animatronic was responsible for what happened to that Police Officer, right? So, if what your missing has something to do with that animatronic then you may have to seek it out"

Jeremy nodded. He had considered the possibly of seeking out the Toy animatronics, mostly Mangle, but he wouldn't know where to find them. All he was told was that they were being put into storage until they were moved. Where would he even start? How would he be able to find them anyway? He didn't know where Fazbear entertainment kept their animatronics whenever Freddy's closed down.

"I'm sure your figure it out" Lucy assured him.

"Maybe. At least I'm not alone this time" Jeremy replied.

"Didn't you say that there was another night guard working along side you?" Lucy asked.

"Yes and, believe it or not, the night guard is an old friend of mine" Jeremy replied. "You remember Mike Schmidt, right?"

_Mike Schmidt, huh?_ That was name Lucy was all to familiar with. She had a vague description of him: Red hair, blue eyes, a little taller then Jeremy. He was Jeremy's friend - best friend - and he was a little younger than Jeremy. He would have been, what?, twenty-two, twenty-three this year. Didn't he disappear some years ago?

"Yeah, I think I remember him" Lucy said. "Didn't he disappear thirteen years ago?"

"He did, and he only came back recently" Jeremy replied before frowning. "I can't help but feel like he's changed"

"People changed all the time, Jerry" His Sister pointed out.

"True, but I know Mike or at least I thought I did" Jeremy heisted. "I just don't understand. He used to be happy and we spent so much time together. But, now he's a completely different person. He's a bit jumpy, easily frightened. When I went to Freddy's on Monday I recognised him straight away, but he didn't recognise me - in fact he told me that he didn't remember our childhood"

"That's concerning" Lucy commented. "Maybe he just needs time to adjust, maybe it will all come back to him one day. Or, perhaps he needs to be around people who will help him. Just give him sometime, Jerry, and he'll will come around"

* * *

Back at the Pizzeria Gavin Johnson was working in his office. He was checking over some documents and recent money transitions, it was a tedious task but he didn't mind doing it. The only benefit for doing, for him at least, was being away from all noise downstairs. He didn't mind the children, he had two kids of his own, but sometimes he just wanted some peace and quiet. He worked better that way.

Satisfied with the current expensive, Gavin leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The company was going so well lately, it was hard to tell where it was all coming from. It was hard to believe that this was the same Freddy's that was doing so badly for so many months, years even. Sure, the company was only doing well because of the recent expensive but if you compared what they were doing before to what were they doing now you would see a vast improvement. If only they made these improvements earlier...

Speaking of improvements Gavin thoughts turned to the night guards. He couldn't help but wonder how they were doing on their job, his thoughts were mostly on a certain redhead. So far he hadn't heard any complaints from Jeremy, but this was the first week and there was still time for Mr Schmidt to mess up. There again Jeremy could be covering for his friend, or maybe he was being black mailed into keeping quiet and say good things about him. Gavin was trying not to be negative but it was hard to be positive for somebody who had tampered with the animatronics. Still he gave Mike a second chance and so far everything was in proper order. Maybe he was being too hard on the kid. Like he was when Mike wanted his old job back.

Gavin knew he could of handle that a better, he really needed to work on his anger issues. He should've been a lot more understanding and allowed Mr Schmidt to talk, maybe Mike did have a reason for tampering with the animatronics. However, Mike wasn't giving him anything to work with and that just made him even more angry. In his defence he did have a bad phone call with his wife. They had been fighting a lot lately and, for once, it wasn't his fault. He did contribute to it with his own problem but he wasn't the one making things more difficult, for the kids especially. That being said, maybe Mike did have a reason for wanting his old job back but he didn't want to tell him everything.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock of the door. Strange, he didn't have any appointments and there wasn't a birthday party planned for today so the staff shouldn't have any worries. Still, he allowed the person to come in. To his surprise it wasn't a member of staff who came into the room. Instead it was one of his sons, his eldest. He was in his mid teens with dark red hair, brown eyes and dark skin. He was wearing a navy blue tank top, a brown body warmer, black shorts and sneakers.

"Caleb?" Gavin said perplexed. "Why are you here?"

"Hi, Dad. Mom dropped me and Jordan of about ten minutes ago" Caleb replied. "She had a meeting last minute that she couldn't get out of it, so she couldn't get a baby sitter for us"

"Typical, she could of phone me at least" Gavin groaned whilst rubbing his temples. "Where's Jordan?"

"He's probably playing with the others kids" Caleb shrugged.

"You should be watching him, Caleb. You never know who could be out there" The manager reprimanded him "Your brother is twelve years old, anything could happened to him"

"Your employees are downstairs, I'm sure they can watch him" Caleb replied "He'll be fine"

"That's not the point, Caleb. My employees have their jobs to do, they can only do so much at a time, that's why we have a camera system but there's only one person watching the cameras" Gavin told him. "Go find your brother, I'll find you both later when I'm not busy"

Caleb sighed in frustration as he left the room. He didn't want to watch his little brother, let alone be in a children's Pizzeria. If he was meant to watch his little brother then why did they have to come to Freddy's?

* * *

Downstairs Fritz was busy working. He was handing out plates of food to paying customers, it wasn't his usually job but he was covering for a employee who had phoned in sick. Fritz didn't mind, it kept him busy and he enjoyed working. He was probably the most hardest worker out of all the employees, the one only who could rival him was Scott before he went missing.

Just as he was finished a man came walking up to him. He had chocolate brown hair that was somewhat wavy at the top and brown eyes. Like Fritz, he was wearing the dayshift uniform. His name was Matthew Nixon. He started working at this Freddy's a little over a year ago, apparently he was transferred from another location yet nobody knew the reason as to why he was transferred. Not even Gavin knows, only Matt himself and his previous boss knew that exact reason as to why he was transferred. Like at the previous location Matt handed out prizes at the Prize corner.

"Fritz, could I borrow you for a second?" Matt asked.

"Sure, Matt. What's the problem?" Fritz replied.

He lead Matt to a more peaceful area. That way they could talk without people over hearing them, or alarming any parents for that matter.

"I over hear some parents talking. Apparently, some of the kids have gone missing" Matt informed him.

"What!" Fritz exclaimed.

Nervously, Fritz turned to the Backstage room. His brother was meant to be working in there all day and he hadn't come out once, except when he needed to. Fritz had kept an eye on him, mostly because he was in trouble with Gavin half the time. His brother seemed so... distracted lately, more distracted than usual.

"I'm certain they are still in the building. I went to Security office to talk to Natalie but she hasn't seen any children leaving the building, we checked the footage back to double check" Matt explained. "I go looking for them myself but I can't leave my post"

"Who's missing?" Fritz asked, his nervous hadn't disappeared.

"I think its a group of boys" Matt replied.

"Thanks, Matt. I go look for them now" Fritz said before taking of.

Fritz quickly made his way to the security office to borrow the tablet. He had hoped they were just hiding somewhere and not missing. They might have camera all over the place but there were blind spot they didn't pick up. Besides anything could happen to a child. They might get hurt, get taken by strangers or... worse, Fritz didn't want to think about it.

He checked through the camera, he was looking for a group of boys in a room on there own. All the party room were occupied, both by children and adults, but he couldn't find the group he was looking for. He was about to leave the room so that he could search the building until he came across the camera that was overlooking one of the newer rooms. It was suppose to be the new parts and service room, or so Gavin says. The repairs for the animatronics used to be done in the backstage room, but the room was too small and you could only repair one animatronic at a time. So, along with the extra party rooms and pirates' cove, Gavin made the decision to have the Backstage room be used as a storage room and the new room was going to be the new parts and service room.

Fritz handed the tablet back to Natalie before leaving the room and making his way to the Parts and Service room. The room was on the east side of the building, on the same corridor as the toilets. It was one of the more bigger rooms with grey floor and dark blue walls. There were plenty of table with equipment or animatronic parts on them. There were a few cleaning receptacles, lockers, steal tool cabinets, metal cabinets, a dolly, a hand trunk.

Fritz took in the room, mentally sighing once he saw the state of the room. The room was a mess.

"Hey!" He called out. "What are you lot doing back here?"

"Nothing, mister" One of the kids replied.

Fritz crossed his arms, he was unconvinced by the kids words. "Really? Then why is this room in a mess? You kids shouldn't be back here, its for employees only"

"Why?" Another asked.

"There's a lot of dangerous equipment in here, not to mention some of the metal pieces" Fritz told them. He couldn't tell them that this was the room where the animatronics were fixed, that would just break the magic, but he did go over to one of the shelves and picked up one of the spare heads (this one was a prototype and didn't resemble any of the animatronics) "See here, this parts are very sharp and any of you could cut yourselves if you touch. Its not safe for you guys to be in here"

"We're sorry, Mister" The third apologised.

"Don't worry about it" Fritz replied. "Why don't you guys go back to the dining room, your parents are looking for you. I'll sort this mess out"

The kids nodded and left the room without a fuss, that's what Fritz was hoping for. He already had some work to do with regards to cleaning the room, but convincing a group of boys to leave a room they weren't suppose to be in could be troublesome. Shaking his head Fritz started working on the room. As he was tidying the room up Fritz could've sworn his heard somebody crying. It sounded like it was coming from one of the cabinets. He went to the one nearest to him and put his ear to the door. Somebody was crying. He opened one of the cabinets and, to his surprised there was a little boy inside. He looked like he was in his early teens with reddish brown hair, dark skin tone and brown eyes. He was wearing a grey hoodie, dark blue jeans and black shoes.

"Hello. What are you doing here?" Fritz said.

"T- they locked me in here, I couldn't get out" The kid replied tearfully.

"They did?" Fritz questions.

The boy nodded. "They said there was something in here and wanted me to take a look. So, I went in for a closer look but they shoved me inside"

"Well, that was rude of them. And to think I just let them out of the room" Fritz remarked before shaking head. "Don't worry, I'll have a word with there parents before they leave"

"Thanks, mister" The kid said.

Fritz smiled. "My name is Fritz, Fritz smith"

"I'm Jordan" The kid, Jordan, replied. "My mum brought me and my brother here because she had a last minute meeting to go to. My brother was suppose to watch me until Dad finished working but he took of on his own"

"That's not right, Jordan. He's your brother, he's meant to be watching out for you" The brunette replied. "Who's your dad?"

"He's the boss of this pizzeria, Gavin Johnson" Jordan told him.

Oh, so he was Mr Johnson son. Well, he could only image Mr Johnson's reaction once he found out what really happened. Fritz had a feeling that his boss wasn't going to be happy about this, angry even. Jordan was meant to be watched by his older brother and, since he was showed into a cabinet by a group of boys, Jordan's brother wasn't watching his brother.

"Come on. Lets get out of here and we'll go find your Dad" Fritz said.

The brunette offered the kid his left hand, which Jordan took. Fritz lead him out of the room and into the main dining room. He thought about taking Jordan to Gavin's office, until he saw his boss standing by one of the arcade machines. Standing in front of him was another boy, it was probably Gavin's other son. As they got closer he felt Jordan grasp his hand a lot more harder. He glanced at Jordan and noticed the upset look on his face, he wondered if it had anything to do with his brother or his father.

"Jordan"

Upon seeing the pair Gavin went straight for him son, knelt down and hugged him. Jordan was forced to let go of Fritz's hand.

"Are you alright" Gavin asked "Are you hurt?"

"I-I'm fine, Dad" Jordan muttered.

"I found him in Parts and Service room. He had been shoved inside a cabinet" Fritz informed him.

"What!" Gavin exclaimed. He turned back to Caleb, his eyes were blazing with anger. "I told you to look after him!"

"That has nothing to do with me" Caleb yelled.

"That's not the point, Caleb. You were given strict instructions to watch your brother. Your Mother probably told you to watch him, I told you to go find him and instead he's been push into a cabinet" Gavin remarked.

"Whatever" Caleb huffed before taking of.

Gavin shook his head as he watched Caleb leave. What had gotten into his son lately? He couldn't explain it, Caleb never acted like this at home so why was he being so difficult right now?

"Mr Johnson? Are you alright?" Fritz asked.

Gavin turned back to Fritz. He had almost forgotten Fritz was standing behind him.

"I'm fine, Mr Smith. I'm sorry that you had to witness that" Gavin replied.

"Its fine, Sir. Its nothing I haven't seen before" The brunette said.

Gavin sighed. "Its just... I don't know what's gotten into him lately. He's not like this when we are at home. He and Jordan get alone just fine, he's doing well in his studies"

"Maybe he doesn't like Freddy's. He's a teenager, isn't he?" Fritz guessed.

"He is." The Manager replied. "I'll deal with this later. Thanks for finding Jordan"

Fritz nodded. It was the least he could do. He had his own opinions about his boss, most of it was to do with his anger issues and how he managed the place, but he clearly cared about his sons and he wanted to get to the bottom of Caleb's problems. He watched as Gavin took Jordan out of the room, probably back to his office.

However, there was something about this whole ordeal that was bothering Fritz. It was familiar. He had seen a parent and a child arguing before. His brother and his father used to fight all the time. His father just wanted the best for his son. But his brother was a dreamer and didn't want the same boring job as their father.

It was justified, wasn't it?


	7. A Fox's tale

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 6: A Fox's tale.

* * *

"I thinks its time we talked to Foxy"

They were standing out Mike's house. At Mike's request Jeremy had showed up early. After a brief interaction Mike brought up the idea of talking to Foxy. Jeremy was sceptical about the idea. They had some answers from the other animatronics so it was only fair that they asked Foxy as well, that way they didn't leave him out and he could contribute to their investigation. But at the same time Jeremy didn't know if he wanted to be in the same room as Foxy, not after what happened last time.

Mike held up his hands in defence, as if he could predict Jeremy's response. "Just hear me out for a second. We're investigating what happened to Carlos Jones, and we know that Toy Foxy was involved. Freddy told us that the interaction between them and the Toys was terrible. Yet, Foxy remembered her and didn't like it when you called her that name. Maybe Foxy could tell us more"

"Its not a bad plan" Jeremy commented. "But, there's just one tiny problem. Foxy doesn't like me, in fact he hates me"

"Well, Freddy checked up on him last night. He told me that Foxy felt bad about what he did and he wanted to apologise to you" Mike told him. "But, if its still a problem for you then I could talk to him"

Jeremy wasn't expecting that. He hadn't considered the possibility of Foxy wanting to apologise to him. There again, why would he? If anything he should be the one apologising to Foxy. He was the one who called Toy Foxy that horrible name, and he did use the flashlight on him (He only used it for defence since Foxy was the only one who wasn't fooled by the mask)

"If you don't mind" The brunette said. "I would go in with you but..."

"It's okay, Jerry. I don't mind one bit" Mike replied. "And, if something was going to happen to me, I'll call out for the others."

Jeremy nodded. Looks like they have a plan then. They were about to make there way to the car when the front door open, revealing Aisha.

"Aisha, what's wrong?" Mike asked.

"Nothing's wrong, Mike. I know you two have to go to work right now but I was hoping to talk to about last night" Aisha replied. "If you two need to get going now it can wait until tomorrow"

"We've got time" Mike said. Turning to Jeremy he asked. "That's if you don't mind"

"Not at all. I'll wait in the car" Jeremy replied before walking away.

Mike turned back to Aisha.

"Mike, I know things are difficult between the three of us..." Aisha started.

"Default? Aisha, Jonathan is a bully. He keeps belittling me. He keeps hurting me, and the only reason as to why I have to put up with it is because you told me I have to stay here with you" Mike interjected.

"I know what he's doing, Michael" Aisha replied. "Jonathan been going through a lot since his sister miscarriage. He was looking forward to being an Uncle"

"That would be upsetting for anybody, but that not an excuse for him to be a bully. Rachel would say the same thing."Mike replied. "If you would just let me move out..."

Aisha sighed. "Michael, we are not having this conversation again"

"Why not?" Mike question. "You have told me time and time again that I'm here for my safety, but why should have to live here if that asshole keeps hurting me?"

He didn't understand. Why should he stay in somebody's house if he going to keep getting hurt? Better yet, why is he staying in Aisha's house in the first place? It was one thing after another. Mike just wanted some answers. What was so secretive that Aisha couldn't tell him. He was about to talk again until he noticed the look in Aisha's eyes. She looked upset.

"I'm sorry" Mike apologised. "I didn't mean to upset you"

"Its okay, you don't have to apologise for anything" Aisha replied. She looked away and crossed her arms. "I keep thinking he's going to change, that he's not going to keep doing this. But your right, this can't keep going on. Rachel would've said the same thing. You know the only reason as to why I stay here is because this is our home, and not Jonathan's"

She looked back at Mike. "I know you want answers but there's only so much I know myself. I can tell you this, though. You were brought to me by... an old friend of mine. There's somebody looking for you, Mike. Somebody with bad intension. They didn't tell me what he wants, but my friend is keeping an eye out. When he knows more he will tell me everything"

"Oh..." Mike muttered.

That was... unsettling. Who could be looking for him? As far as he could recall he was never mean to anybody, he mostly kept to himself and he stayed out of any drama when he went to school. So, who could be looking for him? Aisha saw the look in Mike's eyes, one that meant confusion. She almost wished she hadn't told him anything. But, no matter what her friend told him, it wasn't right to keep secrets from Mike. Aisha placed her hands on Mike's shoulders.

"Please, don't worry about it. Along as you are here, living with me, you are safe" Aisha told him. "I'll... try and talk to Jonathan. Try and make things less difficult between us. If that doesn't work then... I might have to reconsider our relationship"

"Thank you, Aisha" Mike thanked.

She nodded. "No problem. Now you get going or you and Jeremy will be late for work"

* * *

The ride to Freddy's was uneventful. Before leaving Aisha's house Jeremy gave Mike one of his note books, to give him insight about his nightmares. Mike sat in silence as he read and flipped through the pages. Jeremy's nightmares weren't the only thing in the book. His experience at the old Freddy's was there as well.

Mike was shaking his head. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't be going through this alone"

"You have nothing to apologise for" Jeremy told him. "Its not your fault. You weren't here when this happened"

Mike nodded, but Jeremy's reassurance didn't make him feel any better.

"Do you have the note Freddy want?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, its in my pocket" Mike replied, producing said note from his pocket.

When they pulled up to Freddy's they noticed a motorbike in the parking lot. Mike and Jeremy shared a look with each other. Nobody was suppose to be at Freddy's after hours, least to their knowledge. As they got closer to the building they saw a man standing in front of the Pizzeria. He was on his phone but he looked up once he saw Jeremy parking his car. He went over to them as they got out.

"Here you are. I've been waiting for you two to show up" The man said. "You two are the night guards, right?"

"Uh, Hi. Yeah, that us" Mike replied. "I'm Mike and this is Jeremy"

"Name's Matt. I know what this looks like but I'm not here to cause trouble." Matt said. "I actually work here during the day, at the Prize corner"

"Why are you here then?" Jeremy asked.

Matt started laughing nervously. "Funny story, actually. I left my jacket here earlier and my house keys are in them. My brother's out of town for a few days so its just me living on my own at the moment"

"And this couldn't wait until morning?" Jeremy questioned. "You couldn't stay with a friend, or spend the night in a hotel?"

"I don't have many friends. I have four at most but none of them live anywhere near me" Matt replied.

Mike and Jeremy could understand where this guy was coming from. Matt was probably an outcast, or just had problems making friends. But... they couldn't let him go inside. They didn't know if Matt knew about the animatronics. And, if he was still here when they activated, they would probably go after him.

Matt took notice of there silence. "If your worried about me finding out about the animatronics, don't worry about it. I already know about it"

Mike blinked. "You do?"

"This isn't the first Freddy's I worked at. I have... seen something that you wouldn't believe. And, yes, I have seen the animatronics moving around at night" Matt explained, though he seemed a little heisted. "Before you asked, no, I didn't work as a night guard. At the last location my boss asked me to accompany his brother and another during a night shift. He wanted us to observe the animatronics one night, he had a theory about them and wanted us to check it out"

"What was his theory?" Jeremy inquired.

"I'm sorry but that's close information between the four of us" The brunette replied.

That was a bit disappointing. Jeremy wanted to hear this theory that Matt's old boss had, but he didn't want to push him. Although, it might have been insightful. To hear about the working of another location, to see if they... had the same problems as there location. That was probably what Matt was eluding to, that his old location had some problems with the animatronics.

Despite that Jeremy opened the doors and allowed Mike and Matt to go inside, he followed in after them. Matt made his way to the staff room whilst Mike and Jeremy stayed in the main party room. Jeremy's eyes kept switching between the animatronics and clock on the wall. It shouldn't take Matt that long to retrieve is jacket, but he still on high alert. When Matt came back into the room he noticed the nervous looks on Mike and Jeremy's faces.

"You two look a little suspicious" Matt noted.

"Its nothing serious, Matt" Jeremy replied. "But, it is close to midnight"

Matt nodded. "I can see why, but you have nothing to worry about it"

"Matt, out of curiosity, what your take on it? You know the animatronics moving at night" Mike inquired.

Matt considered this for a moment. "I have my own ideas but I can't help but think there's some more going on. The animatronics moving around on there own so that there servos don't lock up, yeah, I can understand that. But we have a track record of employees going missing, night guards especially. According to our boss, and the security feed, there have been no break-ins. I can't help but wonder if something else is going on"

He turned to face the animatronics. "If there have been no break-ins, then how have night guards gone missing? I hate to say it, but I think there's something wrong with the animatronics. They were repaired recently but the night guards were disappearing long before that. Unless they had been fired and went 'missing' after that, I think the disappearances have something to do with the animatronics. Maybe, and I hate to say this because the kids love them, but I think the animatronics were responsible for the disappearances."

At that Mike and Jeremy looked at each other nervously. Matt's theory was so accurate to the truth. That the animatronics had killed some of the night guards, and they regretted it deeply. How did he know that? It could just be guess work, but it was too close to the truth.

Matt turned back to the night guards. "But that just rumours, right? I mean you guys are still here, neither of you two have gone missing. So, maybe they were just fired and wanted nothing more to do with Freddy's"

"Y-yeah. Rumours" Mike gulped.

"Anyway, I better go. I don't want either of you to get into trouble on my behalf" Matt said. "Have a good night, lads"

Matt left the room with Jeremy following after him. Once Matt left the building Jeremy locked the doors and watched as Matt drove off. When he was out of sight Jeremy went back to the main party room.

"That was close" Jeremy sighed.

"Too close" Mike agreed. "How does Matt know about that? I mean I know he worked at another Freddy's and he did watch the animatronics at one point. But how could he know about animatronics?"

"Maybe Matt does know more" Jeremy guessed.

"Maybe, but we can only guess at what Matt knows" Mike replied.

* * *

When the clock hit midnight the animatronics were active. Surprisingly, Mike and Jeremy were already waiting for them, and Mike had a strange device in his hands.

"Hey, guys" Jeremy greeted. "How was your days?"

"It was fine, but nothing special. There was no birthday party for yesterday" Bonnie complained. "So, we spent the whole day doing nothing"

"That's not true, Bonnie. We did a lot of things" Chica replied. "Singing, interacting with children, playing games, telling stories, cooking"

"Well, that fun and all but I had been given a special guitar sole for the birthday boy or girl. I was hoping to play it" Bonnie remarked.

"You play your sole every time we have a birthday" Chica pointed out.

"Well, that because its a good sole" Bonnie boasted.

Freddy shook his head. Something things never change.

"I apologise for those two. I don't know why, but they keeping arguing with each other" Freddy apologised. "Bonnie can be a jerk at times, and he can be a little arrogant at times. Chica has a happy demeanour, but she hates it when we start fighting with each other. She's the one who stops it"

"It sounds like you guys act like a family" Mike observed.

Family... Freddy didn't know why, but he liked the idea of that. The pizzeria was a children restaurant and it was mostly family coming in. Maybe they were a family.

_"Gerald, can you help me here? I want to win a Freddy plush"_

Freddy blinked. Where did that voice come from? Why did it sound so familiar? He started looking around the room. It sounded like a child talking. But, there were no children present, they shouldn't be here after dark. So, why did he hear a child talking?

"Uh, Freddy? You okay?" Bonnie asked.

"Huh?" Freddy looked at Bonnie, then Chica, then the night guards. All of them were looking at him with concern. They were worried about him. "I'm fine. I must be hearing things"

"Maybe you should get that check out?" Bonnie teased.

"Bonnie!" Chica scolded.

"Its fine, Chica. Just let him have this one" Freddy told her.

Chica wanted to protest, but she decided against it.

"Anyway, lets move on from this" Freddy said. He turned to Mike. "Do you have that note?"

"I do" Mike replied.

Like before, Mike pulled the note out of his pocket and gave it to Freddy. Needless to say, after given the note a quick look through, Freddy didn't like it. Whoever wrote this had a problem with Freddy's. Bonnie and Chica were standing behind Freddy. They too were reading the note over.

"What does selling your soul mean?" Bonnie asked.

"Its complicated, seeing as you guys are animatronics and we are humans" Jeremy said. "Basically, you are selling your soul for something more, like money for example. So, in this case, your selling your soul to obtain more money because the night guard job pays more than then the other jobs at Freddy - at least to my knowledge"

"That's interesting" Bonnie commented.

"You say interesting, I say worrying" Chica remarked. "Who could know about this?"

"Maybe its a rival company?" Jeremy suggested. "I have heard some wild rumours about another Freddy's from the previous location. Apparently, some people had a negative impression about that Freddy's. It could just be nothing but what if its a rival company starting those rumours. If people believe those rumours then the pizzeria's reputation and they would stop coming to Freddy's, which means the rival company would become more popular and gain more money"

Mike had to admit Jeremy had a good theory. There was a time when Freddy's wasn't doing so well, so that meant rival company's were gain money whilst Freddy's wasn't gaining anything. But, there was just one problem with that theory. Now Mike didn't have any knowledge about the other companies, maybe that was something he could research, but whoever wrote this note had some, if not more, insight knowledge about Freddy's. What if it was a former employee who got fired before Mike started working?

"I don't know, Jeremy. Whoever wrote this had some insight knowledge about Freddy's. They knew about the animatronics' AI systems, they knew about what they were doing. Why do you think they added the word 'alive'" Mike disagreed.

"Are you suggesting that whoever wrote this note might be former employee who used to work at Freddy's?" Jeremy questioned.

"Who else could it be, Jerry?" Mike replied. "Unless it was private investigator hired by one of these rival companies, it more than likely a former employee"

Jeremy considered this. It did make sense. If it had been a private investigator they would have left and wouldn't leave anything behind. It had to be a former employee. What if it was a night guard who managed to survive the night but they got fired for some reason? They knew how the animatronics worked, they knew what they did. The question is: Why? Why would somebody leave this note behind?

"I didn't receive any notes from the last location. There was a previous night guard who was transferred to the dayshift, but they didn't leave me anything" Jeremy recalled. "It sounds like you have a guardian angel, Mike"

A guardian angel... Yeah, that would be nice. Maybe somebody was looking out for him.

* * *

Foxy was hiding in Pirate's cove. If he wanted to he could of joined the others in the main party room. He was free to wander around now so he could go wherever he wanted. But he didn't want to, he couldn't force himself to. He was hiding from the others, mostly Jeremy. He still felt bad about what he did to Jeremy. He did have some problems with the night guard, and they could have dealt with without it leading to violence. But, they way he handle that situation... he could of hurt Jeremy, he could of killed Jeremy. Thankfully, Chica stopped him before he could do any serious damage.

"Foxy?" Are you in here?"

His ears reacted to the voice. It was the night guard. Not Jeremy, but the other one - what was his name? Foxy wasn't sure, he barely talked to him.

Foxy was standing behind the curtains, watching the night guard with his one eye as he came into the room. He wondered what he was doing in here. Why was he looking for him? Apart from the children, some adults and his friends nobody came looking for Foxy. If anything he was the one looking for people.

The night guard was about to leave the room, until he made eye contact with him. He smiled and walked over to him.

"Hello. Captain" The night guard greeted.

"Leave me be, night guard" Foxy growled.

The night guard help up his hands. "I'm sorry for intruding, Foxy, but I need to talk to you. Its not about Jeremy, although you two should talk at some point."

Talk, what was there to talk about? If it wasn't about what he did to Jeremy than what did he want from him?

"Explain yourself." Foxy said.

The night guard nodded, putting his hands down in the process. "Well, firstly my names Mike Schmidt. We didn't get a chance to talk before so I doubt you know who I am. Secondly, I was hoping we could talk about somethings. You don't have to talk about them, Freddy told me you still had some issues with regards to the last location, but me and Jeremy are gathering some information about what happened at the old location. Freddy, Chica and Bonnie have already told us their stories but it wouldn't be right if we left you out"

That was interesting. Foxy had to admit he was curious about what the night guard told him. He wanted to know his side of the story, nobody had done that before.

"All right. What do ye want to know?" Foxy said.

"Lets start with Toy Foxy" Mike suggested. "If my understanding is correct, you two were friends whilst the others were enemies"

"Me and Marina. Yes, we were friends. Whilst the others were arguing with each other I went of on my own accord. That when I met Marina..."

* * *

_The new Pizzeria was much more bigger then the previous one. Foxy had decided to investigate the place instead of arguing with the others. _Their anger was deserved. _They had been replaced, their parts had been taken for the new models. They didn't like the new models. They were too shiny, and their bodies didn't look like proper animals. They looked like plastic kids toys. _

_The gentlemen who talked to them before spoke highly of them._

_They were not suited to entrain children. _

_Toy Freddy was shorter than the original. His paint colour was lighter than Freddy's, but he had rosy checks. Parts of his body was more muscle and his stomach was rounder. Foxy couldn't decided what was worse. The fact that Toy Freddy sort looked like a clown, or that he looked obese. _

_Toy Bonnie was quiet, and was short then the original. His body was blue and white, and he too had rosy cheeks. There was something about him that looked feminine. Foxy wasn't sure if he could play like the original Bonnie_

_Toy Chica's design was inaproperate. There were two ways of looking at it. The first could be taken as a athletic __character, one that would show kids the improtant of keeping fit and eating heathly. The other... Well, there were some words that Foxy wasn't allowed to say. The alternative would be some sort of wench. _

_Foxy paused for a moment, realising something as he did. If the others had been replaced... then what about him. Where was his replacement? There was probably another Fox in the building, hiding somewhere. Whoever it was they weren't with the others. Perhaps they were in a different room and they hadn't activated when the others did. _

_Eventually, Foxy came across a room. The sign next to it said 'Kid's Cove'. So, he had been replaced. Well, he wasn't the best condition now, was he?. Looking down at his own body it wasn't as bad as the others. He was missing some parts of his body, parts of his fur had been ripped which exposed his metal insides. Sure, it could add to the Pirate aesthetic and he could make-up a story about it, but he couldn't go back to performing for the children. It would only end up scaring them._

_ Looking inside he noticed another Fox standing in the room. They were shorter then him, Their colours were pink and white and they had both of there hands whilst Foxy only had one hand and a hook. _

_He went in for a closer look. When he was standing in front of her the fox opened their eyes, revealing a pair of gold irises. _

_"Hello" The Fox greeted. "Who are you?"_

_"My names Foxy" Foxy replied. _

_"Foxy? As in old captain Foxy? I have heard about you. Your name is often mentioned in my stories" The Fox said. "I am Toy Foxy. Although, that's not my actually name - it was the one they gave me. My name is Marina"_

_"Marina. Hmm that's a pretty name. And you look beautiful too" Foxy complimented. "You know about my adventures?"_

_"Thank you, Foxy. And, yes, I do know of your adventures" Marina replied. "Unlike the others who preform and sing on stage, I tell stories in here. My creator wanted to do something different with me so I tell stories to some of the more younger kids. Most of them are taken from your adventures since you can't preform anymore, but I do tell the old fairy-tale now and then"_

_"And how are the little blighters?"_

_Marina heisted for a moment before speaking. "To be honest they can be a little annoying. I don't mind them but they are quite clinging. I think they managed to do damaged to my arms. And then there's the crying and screaming. I can soothe them, don't get me wrong, but without the help from the parents I wouldn't be able to do story time"_

* * *

"I didn't mind Marina being my replacement. She had apologised for taking it, but it wasn't her fault. She was the only Toy animatronic I visited"

Mike had been quiet whilst Foxy was telling his story. He had to admit part of him wished he had meet this Toy Foxy. It sounded like she was different then the others from the animatronics, Maybe she had a gentler personality? But, if that the case, then what made her change? If she had been a gentler animatronic then what made her become a monster?

"What changed?"

"Well, I found her one night on the floor in pieces. Before that I introduced her to the others. They were still on bad terms with the others but they treated Marina differently, they had to as she was under my protection" Foxy told him. "She told them she was a storyteller and she offered to read to them, it was meant to be distraction from the pain and the lonelines"

Foxy paused for a moment before continuing. "It was the middle of the first week when I saw her in pieces. The others were waiting for Marina to show up and they were growing restless. I went looking for her, though now I regretted it. Once I saw her... she was that broken pile of junk Jeremy had seen before. She tried talking but the only thing that came out was strange static sound and some broken sentences. I tried fixing her up but that probably made things worse"

"Acorrding to Jeremy they tried fixing her up" Mike said. "But, eventually, they stopped"

"They did, I'm still trying to figure out why. But, if you think about it, they did the same to us. Why do you think we have only been recently repaired?" Foxy replied. "The little blighters did it. I don't know how they did it but they managed to damage her body and left her in pieces. They tried to repair her but she kept getting damaged. They gave up on her, called that horrible name and left her"

Thinking back on it seeing Marina left like that had always angered Foxy. She had been abandoned whilst the others were still able to preform properly. She was never the same again. She couldn't tell stories anymore. She had become a child's plaything, easily broken. Whenever he visited her Marina managed to hide from him, and when he did find her she manged to push him away or flee from him via the celling.

Foxy didn't know what was worse. The fact that Marina changed, or the fact that he abandoned his friend.

Foxy turned to face the night guard. At first Mike hadn't said anything. He was thinking about what Foxy told him. Marina had been damaged by kids and abandoned by the adults. It was enough to change Toy Foxy. Maybe that's why she attack Carlos, she must of thought that Carlos was one of the people that hurt her.

However, there was something he wanted to know.

"There is one thing I would like to know. When I was working here four months ago Pirate Cove was out of order" Mike recalled. "I was wondering why was it out of order in the first place?"

Foxy didn't answer him. That... that was a different story all together. Foxy still didn't know what happened. One minute he was preforming, the next thing he knew he woke up in Pirate Cove. Well, there was something in between that he remember but... he didn't know what caused it. Even if he tried to explain it he doubt the night guard would listen to him, or believe it for that matter.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to" Mike told him.

"Nay, lad. I'll talk" Foxy replied. "That was my fault. I attacked somebody"

"What!" The night guard exclaimed.

"Foxy nodded. "Jeremy wasn't the first, there was another before him. I had been preforming one day but I stopped for a brief moment. Apparently, I had broken down but that's not what happened. I saw a man talking to one of them children. I could of sworn I had seen him before, but I don't know where. Before I knew it I ran towards him and used my hook to scar his left check. I don't know what happened to me, it was like I was possessed by something. They managed to get me to stop before it went any further. The next thing I knew I woke up in Pirate Cove, the light was turned off and the curtains were shut. I was out of order until recently"

So, Foxy attacked somebody, that's why Pirate's Cove was out of order. And, on top of that, Foxy believed he was possessed. Can you even possess an animatronic? Mike wasn't sure, in fact he was certain that impossible to possess one. But, thinking about what happened last night, Mike believed him. Sure, Foxy hadn't been in good condition before so maybe he did malfunction. However, there had to be something else going on. That had to be somebody working behind the scenes.

What was going on here?


	8. Blue and grey

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 7: Blue and Grey.

* * *

Fritz was feeling nervous.

No matter what he did he couldn't calm them. He was in a slight predicament at the moment. His brother wanted a lift to work. Working along side is brother was one thing, Fritz could keep an eye on him should he do something suspicious. But, going to Freddy this early in the morning was worry some.

The night guards would still be there.

If they had been somebody else then Fritz wouldn't have a problem with it. But the night guards in question were Mike and Jeremy.

Jeremy wasn't the problem.

Mike was.

He hoped… No, he prayed that they were gone by the time they showed up. If... if his brother was to notice the night guard in question and put two and two together then... Well, Fritz didn't want to think about it. It would be dangerous, for both him and for Mike. His brother would know something was up, he would know that he... lied to him.

No, Fritz hoped that his brother wouldn't notice him. In fact he hoped that the night guard was ready to leave by the time they arrived. That way his brother wouldn't get the chance to talk to him.

It would be better that way. The last thing he wanted was his brother finding out the truth.

Even now as they were driving to Freddy's Fritz was trying to calm himself. His brother sat next to him. Fritz wasn't sure if his brother was lost in thought, daydreaming or trying to sleep. His head was leaning against the window, his eyes were shut. He hadn't said a word to him since they left the house.

When they pulled up to Freddy's his heart sank.

There was a car in the Parking lot.

They hadn't left the building.

* * *

Jeremy was making his way to the Security Office. He was putting the tablet back in the charging station. He was also giving Mike some time to work on the door in the Back stage room. Luckily. the camera was position in spot where Mike wouldn't be seen on the camera. That way he wouldn't be getting in trouble with there boss. That was the last thing they wanted.

His thoughts turned to everything Mike had told about his conversation with Foxy. Whilst they hadn't learnt anything new with regards to Marina, Foxy own story was intriguing. The fact that Foxy attacked somebody and managed to scar their check was worry some, Jeremy had already been dealt with the angry Fox so he knew what it was like to be hurt by his hook. On top of that Foxy hadn't broken down but, he felt like he had been possessed. Jeremy didn't want to believe it, maybe Foxy did break down and he had misinterpreted the events.

But, if he had been recalling the event properly then why attack the man in the first place? What was he doing to do. Why did Foxy recognise him?

When Jeremy entered the room he made his way over to the desk. and place the tablet in the docking station. For a brief moment his eyes shifted to the left side of the desk.

There was a newspaper clipping on the desk. Jeremy frowned, that hadn't been there before. He picked it up and gave it the once over. His eyes widen as he was reading.

"The heck." Jeremy muttered.

**Kids vanish at local pizzeria – bodies not found.**  
Two local children were reportedly lured into a back room during the late hours of operation at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza on the night of June 26th. While video surveillance identified the man responsible and led to his capture the following morning, the children themselves were never found and are presumed dead.  
Police think that the suspect dressed as a company mascot to earn the children's trust.

Jeremy had to re-read the newspaper clipping. He was wondering if his eye were deceiving him. But no matter how many times he read it the words never changed.

There was a kidnapping, and a possible murder.

Jeremy felt sick and a touch light-headed. There had been a kidnapping at Freddy's. How, or when did this happen? Freddy's had a security system so surely somebody would've seen it happening. Heck, even the man responsible for the crime had been arrested so, again, somebody probably noticed something. Unless... Fazbear entertainment tried covering up the incident. Or, at least, tried covering up certain events and making up a fake story about the incident. It wouldn't surprise him. After all Scott had glossed over what happened at night and he tried to pacify the investigation, saying that Fazbear entertainment denies any wrongdoings.

Then there was the possibility of a murder case, which involved children. If it did happen, and Fazbear entertainment tried covering it up, then they would be covering up the truth. After all the bodies were never found so, either the bodies were hidden well or something else was going on. However, the fact that there was a murder that took place in a children restaurant was shocking - regardless if it really happen or not. Who would do that to the children? They were so young and innocent, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. They were easy pray.

Why would you kill a child in the first place?

There had to be a reason, right?

_"Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it...now none of them are acting right."_

It had to be a coincidence but... were the two connected? Was the spare suit that used to tamper the animatronics the same on that used to lure the kids away? If that was true then why keep it around in the first place?

Unless it was hidden and nobody found its hiding place.

* * *

Mike was busy in the backstage room. He was trying to pick the lock on the door that lead down to the generator room but he was having no luck. After all he had never done this before. Perhaps he should wait for Jeremy to come back and let him have try.

Speaking of the brunette, Jeremy had just enter the room.

"Any luck?" Jeremy asked.

"No. Damm thing won't open." Mike grumbled. For a brief moment he turned to look at Jeremy. He noticed how pale he looked. The angry tone that was once present had changed into something more softer "Uh, Jeremy, are you alright? You look like you seen a ghost."

"I'm not sure. I just read something messed up." Jeremy replied.

"What do you mean?" Mike questioned.

"I'll tell you later." The brunette replied. "We shouldn't be talking about it here."

_Oh, so it was something serious. _Mike didn't mind waiting to find out what Jeremy had learnt. Whatever it was it was something he didn't want to talk about whilst being in the Pizzeria. Perhaps it was to do with Freddy's and, if they talked about it here and somebody heard them then they could get in trouble for talking negative about the company.

Mike tried locking picking the door again but he was having no luck. Instead he let Jeremy had go at it.

"What if there nothing down except for the generator?" Mike asked.

"Then we better hope and pray that nobody finds out about this." Jeremy responded.

"What are you doing!"

Upon hearing the voice Jeremy stopped working. Both night guards turned to where the voice came from and saw Fritz standing by the open door. He had his arms crossed and there was an angry expression on his face. They didn't even hear him come in.

"You better have a good reason for locking picking a door." Fritz demanded. He looked at Mike. "Especially you, Michael. Your already on a thin ice with Gavin as it is. If he find out that either of you tried locking the door then you both be in big trouble."

Mike look down in embarrassment. Fritz was right, he could get in trouble if Mr Johnson found out what they were doing He would be fired again, Gavin wouldn't listen to him. He still needed this job.

"Its my fault, Fritz. I wanted to know what was down there." Jeremy covered for them.

"Even if that's the case, Mr Fitzgerald. You two could still get in trouble, possibly fired or worse." Fritz responded. "As to answer your question there is nothing down. Just the generator."

Fritz turned back to look at the door. He was biting the corner of his lip. He was looking nervous for some reason.

"Anyway, its time you two went home." He told them. "Now."

"What's the rush, Fritz?" Mike inquired. "Your acting suspicious. Its like you want to get rid out us."

"Look, Mike, I have my reason but you." He stop for a moment to calm himself. He then corrected himself. "You two can't be here right now."

"Why not, Fritz. Jeremy asked.

"Leave before..."

"What going on in here, Brother?"

Fritz froze.

He turned around. Standing by the door was an man who was probably a year or two older than Fritz. He was wearing the same uniform as Fritz. Although, was as surprising about him was his hair and eye colour. He had purple hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, and grey eyes. There was some light facial hair around his mouth.

"Well? Care you explain yourself, Fritz?" The man asked.

"I... I was just talking to the night guards." Fritz replied.

"Oh, really?" The man said, finally noticing the two night guards in the room. "Hello there. I apologise for my brother's fool mood. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"It's no problem, Mr.."

"Vincent. Vincent Smith." The man replied, giving the night guards a bow as he introduced himself. Fritz tried not rolling his eyes. Really, his brother could be such a child at times. "And, who are you then? I don't think my brother here is going to introduce us."

"Uh, right. This is Jeremy Fitzgerald." He stop again. He seemed hesitant to introduce the redhead. "And, um, M-Mike Schmidt."

Vincent blinked. He turned to face the redhead proper. His eyes widened once he realised who he was looking at. Vincent walked over to him, completely ignoring Jeremy and Fritz. Mike wasn't sure what to make of this, he was somewhere in between being uncomfortable or nervous. He didn't like being the centre of attention, he preferred fading in the background. Though, now that he got a proper look at him Mike noticed a silver chain around his neck.

"Its you." He muttered.

"Uh."

"Aren't you the night guard who was fired four months ago?"

_Ah. So that was it. _

"Yeah. That's me." Mike groaned. He wished people would stop bring that up.

Vincent couldn't help but grin. " Now, now, don't be embarrassed. I think its impressive. Its not every day we get to meet somebody who has survived a nightly ordeal."

"I doubt that. It was just dumb luck that I managed to make it out alive." Mike protested. "Besides Jeremy managed to get through a week as well and he had it just as bad as me."

"How intriguing." Vincent commented. "Perhaps we could talk about it sometime. Maybe if your not busy later we could..."

"Actually, Vincent, they should really be going." Fritz interjected. He made his way over to Mike and hurried him out of the room. "Its been a long night and they need to sleep." He put his head back into the room once he realised Jeremy hadn't followed him. "Jeremy, you can still drive you and Mike home, right?"

"Oh, yeah. I can do that." The brunette replied.

He said a quick good bye to Vincent before hurrying after them. When he realised his brother wasn't coming back anytime soon, Vincent went to sit down on the table. He was lost in thought, playing with the chain around his neck. He stop playing with for just a moment, only to remove the chain from around his neck to reveal and small, silver object. He open it up and smile to himself once he saw the images inside. Particularly, the one on the left.

"You have been here this entire time and I never noticed." Vincent whispered.

He was sure his brother knew who the redhead was. That could be a problem. Fritz would do everything to keep Mike away from him. It wouldn't surprise him. He had already done so before.

_And he had lied to him._

No matter, he could work with this. He would just have to act more carefully from now on.

"So, brother. If this is the game you want to play then so be it." He muttered to himself. "After all I do love games..."


	9. Pieces of the investigation

Down the rabbit hole  
Chapter 8: Pieces of the investigation.

* * *

Later that same afternoon Jeremy was sitting at his desk in his room. He didn't get much sleep, but he wasn't plagued by nightmares either. No matter how many times he tried drifting off his mind was occupied with so many thoughts, some many questions. Even when he did get some sleep he only managed to get an hour in before waking up again. Eventually, a little after one pm, he gave up all together and opted to have something to eat and drink in his room. His Mother expressed her concerns for him, upon seeing how tired he was. Jeremy had promised her that he get try and get some sleep later before work.

For now he was going through everything he and Mike had learnt so far. He had already shown him newspaper clipping he found in the Security Office - needless to say he had the same reaction as Jeremy, though the brunette was certain he could see some tears coming out of Mike's eyes. It was understandable, anybody would have the same reaction upon learning that kids have gone missing. Jeremy was trying to figure out how it happened in the first place.

In fact that wasn't the only thing he wanted to know. He opened his notebook to a clean page and started writing some notes down.

* Find where the Toy Animatronics have been stored, particularly Toy Foxy.

* Review the other phone calls.

* Review the security footage, both old and new.

* Find out more information about the kidnappings.

He leaned back in his chair, taping his pen against the table. The last one was going to be difficult to find out. Whilst he could research it for himself he had a gut feeling that Fazbear entertainment was withholding information. That, or they had created a fake narrative in which they have nothing to do with what's going on. They had denied all wrongdoings when the investigation at the 'New and improved Freddy's' started, and perhaps before the investigation started. They were probably responsible for more things as well.

His eyes shifted to the phone on his desk. He wondered if he should call Diana and ask for her help. After what happened at the old location he and Diana had stayed in contact with each other. Firstly, he saw Carlos's body in the Parts and Service room. Diana had been informed about what happened to her partner and Jeremy, whilst dealing with his own issues, had offered her a shoulder to cry on. Secondly, if what the newspaper clipping said was true with regards to a possible murder case, then he would need help from a police officer.

He sat the chair down on all fours and he reached for his phone. He turned it on, entered the four digit password and pulled up his lists of contacts. Once he found the one he was looking for he called it. After the third ring the person who he was trying to call answered him.

_""Hello?"_ A familiar voice said.

_"Uh, hi, Diana. Its Jeremy. Listen I was wondering if me and my friend could meet you later?" _Jeremy replied.

_"Sure, I don't mind. I don't have work today so we can meet in the next hour and two" _Diana said. There was a brief pause before Diana spoke again. _"If I may, Jeremy, what is this about? Do you have more information with regards to Carlos's attack, or is there some else you wanted to talk about? Also does your friend know what happened?"_

_"Actually, I found something out last night that is linked with your case. I found a newspaper clipping that talked about a kidnapping that took place at Freddy. I was wondering if it was related to yours and Carlos's work." _Jeremy explained. _"And my friend does know about the animatronic attack. He's helping me with my work."_

At first Diana didn't response. Jeremy wondered if he had pushed to far, if he had intruded where he shouldn't have. Technically, he was. He was intruding on a police investigation even though said investigation was six years ago. But this was to get justice for Mr Jones family, and there was something else going on.

He heard Diana let out a shaky breath as she responded. _"Al-alright. I think you two should come to my house. We'll talk there. I'll text you my address."_

_"Thanks, Diana. We'll see you later."_ Jeremy replied before hanging up.

He placed his phone down on the table, waiting for Diana's text message. He had a feeling there was something wrong with Diana, something that still trouble her to this day. If Jeremy were to guess he would say it was something to do with Carlos. Perhaps she hasn't move on from the incident, she and Carlos were partners after all.

A few seconds later a message from Diana came through, Jeremy checked it immediately. With the address in head Jeremy sent a text message to Mike, telling him that he would be on the way to pick him up. Going over to his closet he picked out some clean clothes and changed into them. He then made his way downstairs, he told his Mother where he was going before heading to the garage to get his car.

* * *

Meanwhile Mike was doing his own research. He sat in his own bedroom, for once Aisha's house was quiet without any disturbance from downstairs - save for the noise from the television. Mike wanted to know more about Foxy's story. He did believe Foxy went he told him that he felt possessed when he attacked that man, he wanted to get an outside perspective on the matter. And for that he was looking up old newspaper articles and online posts.

What he found out was interesting.

There was one online post that caught his attention. Mike skimmed through the text, trying to get an idea of who this person was. Apparently, the person behind the post had a few run ins with Freddy's before, they had already made posts about other events that happened at Freddy's - including the incident that happened at the 'New and improved Freddy's'. Most of the post gave a general idea of what happened, the rest was the person own opinion of the matter. Whoever this person was they didn't like the company in general. Although, whoever this person was, they hadn't made a post in awhile.

"I wonder what happened to them." Mike mused before he started to read it proper.

_"Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, another Animatronic attacked somebody - the person in question was an employee at Freddy's. The building was already in disarray so how Freddy's still managed to get customers is beyond me. I had done some investigating myself and the working conditions are terrible. The security office is filthy with trash left on the table and there's is little room to do any work. The room backstage where they keep the parts for the animatronics was far too cramp for any proper work to be done._

_"I feel like they just don't care anymore and they only want money from paying customers."_

_"The same could be said for the Animatronics. They looked like they hadn't be properly dealt with in years. _I watched the three main animatronics perform on stage before the incident happened, from the way they moved it looked like they were glitching out. On closer examination, at a safe distance of course, _I could've sworn I saw a hand print on Freddy's head. I did notice a peculiar smell come from the animatronics. It could just be down to the fact that they hadn't been dealt with and properly washed in years. However, there was sort some of rotten smell coming from them. To be completely honest that wasn't the only thing I saw. Unless my eyes were playing tricks on me I have sworn I saw blood on them. _

_"Back to the matter at hand, the animatronic attack. It was during the afternoon shift when it happened. Foxy, the animatronic fox who tells Pirate story to the children, shut down for a moment whilst he was performing. The employees were about to shut down Pirates Cove when all of a sudden Foxy sprung into life, sprinted of stage and attacked a man with his hook. Thankfully, the employees manage to pry the fox of him before anything else happened. The only thing he received from the attack was a scar on his left cheek."_

"This story is very similar to the one Foxy told me." Mike muttered. "I wonder..."

Out of curiosity, Mike looked into some more posts. He wondered if there was something to do with the incident, or any other problems that had been going on at Freddy's. Chances are there were going to be more incidents, more people or kids gone missing - Mike hoped it wasn't the latter. But, if there were more incidents happening then why hadn't Fazbear entertainment done anything about it?

However, instead of it being another post, what really caught was the reason as to why the person started the blog in the first place.

_"I have been asked before why I have set up this website, and I have refused to answer because that very same reason is far to personal for me to tell anybody. But these incidents keep happening and I refuse to stand by and do nothing. The reason as to why I have set this website and started this 'personal vendetta' against Freddy's is because my godson, Marcus Holmes, has gone missing. He was meant to be attending his friend's birthday party but he had gone missing before the presents were going to be open."_

_"As any concern godparent would do I asked one the employee for there help, asking if they had seen him and given them a description of the boy. They searched for him but they couldn't find him. They had only search the inside of the building, they didn't search around the building or checked the surveillance footage. I had questioned them about this, stating that they hadn't a proper search for the missing boy. They told me to that they had done all they can and they went back to work. Naturally, I called the Police so that I could report the incident. They did a proper search of the building, checked the surveillance footage and the nearby alleyway but they couldn't find my godson."_

"Another kid has gone missing." Mike summarised. He picked up a spare piece of paper, his pen, and started writing the name of the website down and godparents story. "I should show this to Jeremy, see what he makes of this. With any luck this might help him with his investigation."

Speaking of Jeremy, Mike noticed his phone flash with a text message popping up on the scene. Mike picked up his phone and check the text message.

_"Hey, Mike. I phoned somebody who worked on original police case and asked if we could meet them. She said we could meet at her place, but I think she's hiding something. She seemed frightened to talk about it, it might have something to do with Mr Jones as she was his partner. Anyway, I'll be over in about twenty minutes. See ya soon."_

Mike sighed. What had Jeremy gotten himself into this time?

* * *

As expected Jeremy arrived twenty minutes later. It turns out that Diana lived an hour away from them. So, as they were driving, Jeremy told Mike more about his experience at the 'New and improved Freddy's'.

"When I received the first phone call from Scott I thought he was joking about the animatronics moving around at night, like a prank on the new guy. But as the night went on I realised he was wasn't joking. Especially after I saw them wondering around myself." Jeremy recalled. "You know, there wasn't a proper explanation as to why they were moving around and trying to get into the office. According to Scott they weren't given a proper night mode so, since the building was quiet, they went looking for people."

"How did they know you were in the office in the first place?" Mike questioned.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps they were able to detect my presence, or my body heat?" Jeremy guessed, still uncertain about the whole thing. "They were 'sleeping' when I entered the building so I don't know how they managed to find me. Unless they were programmed to remember certain things. Like employee's jobs or something like that. "

"That's one possibility." The redhead commented.

"I still don't know how I manged to survive. My only defences were a spare Freddy head and a flashlight. The spare head was used to trick them into think I was an animatronic, but it didn't work on Foxy. That's when the flashlight came in. Whenever I saw Foxy in the hallway I would flash the flashlight, his systems would reset and he would go back to the Parts & Service room." The brunette explained. "Foxy wasn't the only one I had problems with. They all gave me trouble. Toy Bonnie and Toy Chica would use the vents to get inside my office, even old Bonnie and old Chica managed to use the vents. Toy Foxy had limited movements without a complete body but she still managed to crawl around the building and climb onto the celling, heck she even managed to use the vents as well. Balloon Boy was trying to get my batteries, I had to keep winding up the music box so the Marionette wouldn't come out of its box. The rest of them were coming from the hallway in front of me."

Yeah, Mike could see why that would be hectic. Without the Freddy head and the flashlight Jeremy might not have made it out alive. There again why was he left near defenceless in the first place? It sounded like there were no doors protecting him from the animatronics. Seeing as the building was only open for two weeks perhaps there wasn't enough budget left to put doors in. Or, there hadn't considered the possibility of having doors to protect the office in the first place. What if somebody decided to rob the place and Jeremy had no means to defend himself? That could be another reason as to why the animatronics were moving around at night, stopping intruders from getting in.

"Mike, can I asked you an honest question?" Jeremy said suddenly.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." Mike replied.

_Where was he going with this?_

"Is everything alright at Aisha's?" Jeremy asked. "Its just that... the other day when I picked you up you looked like you were crying. And when you brought Jonathan up you were talking about him in negative light, like you hated him for some reason."

He paused for a moment before continuing. "If there's something bothering you, or worrying you, then you can talk to me. We're friends, aren't we? And your like a brother to me anyway."

_"I rather not say." _Mike thought. He didn't think Jeremy would bring this up, it never occurred to him once. Maybe he should tell him? But, despite being friends - childhood friends - Mike didn't feel comfortable opening up to Jeremy, not like this anyway. He just felt pressured to talk, especially after the way Jeremy worded it. He wasn't sure why, but did he actually trust Jeremy? Its felt strange. One day he practically had nobody, since Rachel moved away, then the next somebody re-enters his life again. And, whilst Jeremy had been nothing but kind towards him, he remember almost nothing about Jeremy all together.

Perhaps he was over thinking it but, without knowing more about Jeremy, he was a complete stranger to him. A friendly stranger at best.

Mike heard Jeremy sigh. "Look, you don't have to tell me right now but..."

"No. Sorry, I was just thinking." Mike said. He leaned his head against the window. "Its just... I don't know what his problem is but he doesn't like me. I don't know if its because I'm intruding on his and Aisha's personal space or time, you know what adults are like. Apparently, I'm taking advantage of their hospitality."

"Why would he think that?" Jeremy questioned. "Its not like your there by choice, is it?"

"I honestly don't know, Jerry. I help Aisha whenever she needs it. I have this job so its not like I'm jobless." Mike replied. "Maybe he should tell me what his problems is, then we could make an agreement."

The rest of the ride was uneventful. Jeremy went back to talking about Freddy's. Mike was half listening. He went back to his own thoughts, wondering if he had been over thinking his friendship with Jeremy. Perhaps there was nothing to worry about.

Maybe if his memories weren't so all over the place then perhaps he would get a better understanding of everything.

* * *

Diana's house was nice. There was a small garden in the front of the house and, by the looks of it, there were some flowers and small bushes growing in the garden. Somebody clearly took care of the garden, as there was a round flower bed in the middle of the grass The house itself had a medium size to it, with a garage on the left side of the building and a small staircase leading up to the front door. The walls around the house were pained light blue and the front door was white. By the looks of things it looked like a two story house.

Jeremy walked up the stairs and pressed the door bell. A few seconds later and somebody came to the door. When the door opened it wasn't Diana on the other side. It was a women who was in her mid twenties with terracotta skin tone, black hair which was done up in a ponytail and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a dark blue hoody, grey leggings and white sneakers. There was a red and black stripped duffel bag around her shoulders and a blue cap on her head.

"Uh, Hi." The young women greeted. "Who are you?"

"My names Jeremy Fitzgerald and this is Mike Schmidt." Jeremy replied. "This is Diana's house, right? We were hoping to see her."

"Oh, right. She said you two were coming. Yes, this is her place." The women said. "I'm Savannah, by the way. Savannah Williams. So, what brings you here?"

"Well, we work at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria and we found something that might interest Miss Winters." The brunette explained.

Savannah rolled her eyes. "Oh, the children's place. Don't remind me."

"You don't like it?" Mike inquired.

"Its not that. I mean there has been some changes over the years but its not for me. Sometimes I have to take my little niece whenever I'm babysitting her." Savannah clarified. "Freddy is her favourite. You know, the brown bear with the top hat on and blue eyes. The one who likes to sing. "

"We know who your talking about." The redhead replied.

"Oh, good. I mean that's not the first Freddy's that been open, and its the only one that has lasted this long. I know there are more Freddy locations out there but they end up closing or something bad happens." Savannah said. "And I know there are a lot animatronics out there. As well as different versions of them, not just the originals, so I wasn't really sure if you knew which Freddy I was talking about."

"Savanah, your still here? I thought you were going to the gym."

At that moment another young lady came walking up to the trio, one in which Jeremy recognised straight away. She had shoulder length black hair and dark green eyes. She was wearing a short sleeved floral pink dress with aqua leggings and white socks.

"Hey, Diana. I was just on my way out when I got stopped by these two gents." Savannah replied. "I better get going. See ya."

Savannah walked past the two night guards, giving Jeremy a quick wink as she past him. They watched as she went down the street before looking back at Diana. The black haired women leaned against the door frame, her arms crossed over her body.

"Hi, Jeremy." Diana greeted.

"Hey, Diana" Jeremy replied. "How have you been?"

"I've been better. Still not over what happened to Carlos, though. I still don't know what drove him to do what he did." Diana said. "If I had gone with him then maybe that incident wouldn't have happened."

"You couldn't have know what happened." The brunette said.

"Maybe. But, I could have done something." Diana lamented. She shook her head, there was no point in getting worked up. What's done is done. Diana looked past Jeremy, she saw Mike standing behind him. "Is this your friend?"

Jeremy turned his head back to see Mike before turning back to Diana. "Yeah. His name's Mike Schmidt."

Diana gave him a weak smile. "Nice to meet you Mike. I'm Diana, I'm sure Jeremy has already told you about me. I wished we could have met under different circumstances."

Mike returned the smile. "Likewise, Diana."

Diana nodded. "Well, you two better come in. Wait for me in the living room, its the first door on the left. I'll make us some tea."

Diana turned around and made her way to the kitchen, whilst Mike and Jeremy entered the living room. The room had a modern design to it with wooden flooring white wallpaper with flowers on it and hanging above them was a celling fan. On top of the flooring was a large, rectangular rug with a wooden low table in the middle of it - on top of the table was a book with dark red leather on it. Around the table was a white couch with three pillows on it and two armchairs, of them had wooden legs. There was fireplace in the wall in front of them with a large tv just above it. A little away from the fireplace were two bookcases. There were a few paintings of the walls and the windows had dark blue curtains.

Diana entered the room a few minutes later, with a tea tray in hand. She placed it down on the table and took a set in the available armchair.

"This is a lovely house, Diana." Mike complimented.

"Thank you, Mike. It belongs to my parents, actually. My Mom is the one who maintains the garden, whilst my Dad was the one responsible for all the design choices." Diana replied. "But, we not here to discuses my house. Jeremy, could you give me that newspaper clipping, please?"

Jeremy did as Diana requested. He brought the newspaper clipping and handed it to Diana. It took Diana a few seconds to read it, she was already familiar with it as Carlos had shown it to her once before.

"I honestly don't know how the media outlets found out about this. Especially, when we tried so hard to keep this under wraps - given the seriousness of what happened." Diana said, putting the piece of paper down on the table and taking a sip of her tea. "But, the first two kidnappings were done before we started doing a proper investigation so there was always going to be a possibility of media outlets getting that information."

"Wait, are you serious? The kidnappings actually happened." Jeremy exclaimed.

"Yes, Jeremy. They did happen. Not only that but there were more as well, not just kids. Some adults went missing too." Diana confirmed. "Of course, Fazbear entertainment denied everything. They said the employees were fired but they never gave a proper reason as to why they were fired in the first place. What was even more strange was that a part from one incident, which happened after the building had closed for the day, the rest of them disappeared during the night. And, there was no break-in either."

Mike and Jeremy shared a look with each other. That sounded just like night shift with the animatronics.

"What about the kids?" Jeremy asked.

"That's the thing, we never found their bodies. The only thing we found, a part from the blood on the floor, was a pair of glasses and a necklace that belong to one of the kids. I can't tell you their name though due to Police confidentiality." Diana explained. "When we did bring up the kidnappings once again Fazbear entertainment dined everything, only this time their response was much worse. They blamed the parents for not watching their kids in the first place, and the kids for wondering of when they shouldn't have. Of course, they had done a proper search for them before hand but they couldn't find them."

"So, if you are allowed to say, how many kids have gone missing?" Jeremy inquired.

"E,even. All of them at Freddy's locations." Diana replied.

"Actually, Diana, I think twelve kids have gone missing, maybe more." Mike pointed out.

"Twelve? What makes you say that, Mike?" Diana question, a frown was present on her face.

Mike brought a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to Diana. The black haired girl accepted it, wondering what sort of information Mike had given her. Her eyes widen as she was reading. Diana had never considered the possibility that there was more kidnappings out there, and potential murders. At the time she and Carlos had only look into the more recent ones. Of course, there was more to it then that but, due to the nature of incidents, the kidnappings and the potential murders were the highest priority.

"Marcus Holmes? Strange, I don't think that name ever came up when we were going through each of the reports." Diana commented, placing the piece of paper down on the table. "I'll look into it, that's if my boss will allow me. Where did you get this information from, Mike?"

"Well, I was looking into an incident regarding Foxy when I came across online blog that talked the incident, as well as others. The person who was posting on the blog is the godparent of Marcus Holmes. " Mike told her. Turning to Jeremy he added. "Sorry, Jerry. I was going to give this to you earlier."

"Its no problem, Mike. I'll look into it later." The brunette replied.

Diana leaned back in her chair, her right leg was crossed over her left one and there was a thoughtful expression on her face. Admittedly, she thought she was done with all this after her boss had pulled the investigation - that was only a matter of days after the incident. She had tried talking him around it but he wasn't having it, stating that the investigation was doomed right from the start as nobody had any luck with it before. But not Carlos. Regardless of that man's pride, he was able to make quick work of any of his previous cases - heck, even before she had met him he put himself into a dangerous position that nearly cost him his life. That's why she became his partner in the first place, so that he would have somebody who would stop him from pulling dangerous stunts like he did before.

_"Yeah, what a loud of good that did." Diana thought. _

But, with this new found information, maybe it could open again.

"This might be what I need to get the investigation open again." Diana said.

"Did they close it after the incident?" The brunette asked.

"They did. You know before Carlos accepted the case he was told that it was doomed from the start as nobody had any luck with it. Carlos was never one to back down from a challenge, though" Diana replied, smiling at the memory that played in her head. She picked up the book from the table. "Here, this belonged to him. Carlos always made a backup copy to his work in case it went missing. Though, you'll have to forgive his hand writing. Carlos and his family are Hispanic so I think he wrote a few Spanish words down to help him get through the language barrier. Luckily, he's not as bad as his brother."

She handed it over to Jeremy. Like Diana said, there was information regarding their investigation. There was some descriptions of the missing kids, without revealing their names of course. There were the names of previous employees that went missing, most of them worked the night shift. There were a few locations mentioned. Jeremy recognised a few names, like 'New and improved Freddy's' and, surprisingly, Fredbear's family diner. (Of course, Scott had only mentioned it briefly but he wanted to find the original owners for some reason.)

"Where do we go from here?" He asked.

"To be honest I'm not sure. I'll try and get the investigation to open again but I can't promise anything. That being said the only thing we can do is retrace our steps and see if there any information or clues that we might have missed." Diana said. "Whoever is behind all of this is still out there. They might have left something behind."

"What if you can't get it open again?" Mike asked.

"Then We will have to work from here, regardless if it goes against Police protocol or not." Diana replied. "To many have suffered because of one person, something has to be done about it. If anybody were to find out about this then I'll probably loose my job, but that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Hopefully, it doesn't come to that." Jeremy said. He didn't want to be the one to get Diana fired over something they started. "Whilst your doing that me and Mike will look into this blog some more. "

"Then we'll meet here tomorrow, if you two can make it." Diana said. "Regardless of what might happen tomorrow, I'll we have more information prepared. One way or another we're going to get to the bottom of this."


	10. The importance of remembering

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 9: The importance of remembering.

* * *

Like every other night, Mike was getting ready in his room. When he and Jeremy returned from Diana's he automatically went back to sleep. He didn't show it but he was exhausted by the turn of events. The mere fact that the kidnapping actually happened was both frightening and intriguing, mostly because the kidnapper was still out there and because he wonder how Fazbear entertainment managed to cover up the entire story altogether. Of course, they had only been partly successful because the story had manged to get out there through an anonymous source. Or, perhaps they made up a completely different narrative to make it sound them they were completely innocent in the matter.

But, after learning about how they reacted when Diana and Carlos were questioning them, Mike believed that wasn't the case. They weren't so innocent in the matter and they had a part to play in all of this. Since the kidnapper was never found Fazbear entertainment had covered for them. Though, there was a possibility that the company was an unwitting accomplice in the matter, Mike had a feeling that that wasn't the case. If they had no involvement in the matter then why weren't they more cooperative in the investigation? Better yet, why deny any wrong doings in the first place?

Mike's thoughts turned to his discovery earlier. He couldn't imagine what the kids parents were going through, or what his godparent was going through either. Diana had never heard that name before, nor did it appear in the original investigation. He wondered if there was small chance that the boy had been found. He would have to look into it later, if Jeremy would allow it.

Mike sighed. Why did Jeremy ask him that question earlier? It came out of nowhere and Jeremy seemed frustrated when he didn't answer him right away - honestly, he was just trying to gather his thoughts. Though, truthfully, there was a part for him - a small part of him that is - that just seemed... frustrated. He was tried of people asking him hard hitting question. With Mr Johnson he could understand since he was his boss and wanted to know the reason as to why he tampered with the animatronics. Perhaps he should have told him about the note he received. Maybe then Gavin wouldn't have shouted at him, perhaps he would be more understanding of his predicament.

But Jeremy's line of questioning was different. There was just some about it that hurt him. Jeremy just wanted to know the truth about what was going on but... Mike couldn't tell him. It was far to painful to talk about. Even if he did bring it up it would set him off again, it would show Jeremy just how weak he really was. Then there was the response Jeremy gave him. There was no comfort, no assurance that everything would be okay. He did that before as well, Mike recalled.

_"Your a coward. You want freedom and Jeremy could of helped you. But you refuse to talk. __Jeremy wouldn't allowed this to happened. He's family,__ isn't he?"_

Mike hands touch his checks. He hadn't realised he was crying. He quickly wiped them away, now was not time for weakness. He looked at the clock on the wall. Jeremy would be arriving at any moment. He tried making himself more presentable and less of a coward. It would do him no good, he tells himself. Jeremy would noticed that he had been crying, then he would try and get to the bottom of it. Mike didn't want to deal with that right now. He wanted to relax, probably eat or drink something and get this bloody night over and done with. With that in mind, he made his way to the door...

Mike froze.

He heard shouting coming from downstairs.

Jonathan and Aisha were arguing again. He hadn't noticed them either. He backed away from the door, he was shaking and he couldn't breath. It was about him, wasn't it? Because of his outburst the other night. This was his fault.

Someone was running upstairs. Mike quickly looked around his room, trying to find away out. But there was no escape save for the door in front of him, the window was an option but it was too high up. He was trapped. The door banged opened and, as expected, Jonathan was on the other side. He made his way towards Mike. The redhead tried to back of but Jonathan caught him and shoved him against the wall. Mike yelped in responds and tried to move away again. Jonathan grabbed his arms and pinned him against the wall. There was a sneer on his face and his eyes were blazing with anger.

Mike had never been so afraid before.

"What the fuck have you been saying now?" Jonathan demanded.

"N-nothing." Mike whimpered.

"Don't fucking lie to me, Schmidt." Jonathan snarled. "Your the reason as to why Aisha is thinking about leaving me. You have to get your way again whilst others have to suffer. Your not fucking happy with me because you can't have her all to your self. She has to play Mommy to you because yours is dead."

"T- that's not t-true."

Gods, he really hoped Jonathan was taking everything Aisha said out of context.

"Isn't it? Then why the fuck are you here, Schmidt? Where are your real family? Because the way I see it they abandoned you. They abandoned you like everybody else and we are the ones left to pick up the pieces. And when your not satisfied you take it out on everybody else." Jonathan remarked.

He let Mike go. Mike practically slid down to the floor. He was breathing heavily, tears were coming out of his eyes. He felt so hopeless. So broken. So alone. He wanted this to be over. He wanted to run away, some where Jonathan wouldn't find him.

"Look at you. Its pathetic, Schmidt. You can't even defend yourself. Look at me." Jonathan said. Mike couldn't make eye contact with him. "LOOK AT ME!"

Mike flinched. His blue eyes met Jonathan's green.

"That's better. Now listen. Aisha's going to be gone all day tomorrow. I know you have work and you'll probably need to sleep when you get back. Don't worry, I'll allow that." The black haired man said. "But when you wake up you'll be running errands for me. Its time you started earning your keep. Aisha might be blind to it but I'm not. I will not allow you to continue using us like this."

"B-but I h-have p-plans t-tomorrow" Mike muttered.

"What was that?" Jonathan demanded.

"N-nothing, S-sir." Mike replied.

"Good. Now get out of my sight." Jonathan said.

Slowly, Mike stood up and made his way to the door. Any wrong moment would probably set Jonathan off again. There wasn't nothing Mike could do. His fate had been sealed even if he protested, even if he said he was helping a police investigation. He walked through the door framed and quickly bolted downstairs and out of the house. He didn't noticed the car in front of Aisha's house. Instead he was walking down the street. He just wanted to get away from all of this pain.

He didn't hear somebody yelling behind him.

* * *

Jeremy knew something was up.

He had a gut feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. Mike was running late. He was probably talking to Aisha again. Or, he had woke up late and was still getting ready. But, as the minutes went by, Jeremy was starting to get worried.

His thoughts turned back to the conversation he and Mike had earlier. He was starting to wonder if Mike was opening up to him. Because clearly there was something going on. Jeremy wasn't stupid. He could tell something was bothering him. However, Mike was too frightened to talk about it.

Perhaps he was a little bit forceful when he was asking his question. But, Mike wasn't giving him anything to work with. He could be patient and wait until Mike was ready to talk. But, they had other matters to deal with now.

He saw the door came rushing out. Jeremy was about to open the door for him, only Mike started walking down the street instead. Jeremy blinked. Did Mike not see him? Surely, he would have seen his car, it wasn't too dark out so he would have seen it. Jeremy opened the door, closed it behind him and went after Mike. He had to start quick walking because Mike was out pacing him and he wasn't stopping anytime soon.

"Mike!" Jeremy yelled, hoping Mike would have heard him.

Yet, the redhead kept on walking. It was like he was completely obvious to what was happening around him. The brunette started walking faster, practically going into jog as he tried to catch up to him. In a few short seconds he managed to catch up to Mike but the redhead still didn't acknowledge him. When he was close enough he reached out for Mike's arm, trying to stop him from going any further.

"Don't touch me!" Mike yelled as he turned around and pushed him to the ground.

Jeremy blinked. He slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he watched Mike carefully. Alarming bells went of in Jeremy's head. Something clearly happened because right now Mike was looking distressed and agitated. Jeremy wondered if it was his fault since he grabbed Mike but some part of his believed that it wasn't aimed at him.

He watched as Mike's eyes widen in disbelief. He looked at his hand, then at Jeremy as he took in what happened. Panic started setting as Mike went down on his knees.

"O-oh god. J-Jeremy, I-I'm so, so s-sorry. I-I didn't h-hear you coming and..."Mike stuttered. "I-I'm sorry. P-please, f-forgive me. I-I didn't mean..."

Jeremy stood up and went over to him. He helped Mike up and wrapped his arms around him. Mike buried his face into Jeremy's chest.

"Its okay, Mike. I could have been anybody and just defending yourself." Jeremy assured.

"I-I'm sorry." Mike cried.

"Shh. Don't cry. Its alright." Jeremy shushed him.

He started rubbing circles on his back. The brunette was well aware that they were late for work but right now he didn't care. The only thing that matter was helping Mike calm down. He wondered what happened to him. He was tempted to ask him but, with the state he was in at the moment, he knew it would do little to no good. Eventually, Mike's sobs started to calm down and Jeremy could hear him taking a few steady breaths.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah. Thanks, Jerry." Mike replied.

Jeremy nodded in agreement before pulling out his phone. His eyes widen once he saw what time it was.

"Uh, Mike, we're late for work. We need to get going now." Jeremy informed him. "Although, it your not feeling up to you can stay if you want. I'll cover for you if Gavin asks."

"No. I want to come in." Mike replied.

"Alright. But I'll need to look into that thing for Diana, and I don't want to leave you by yourself." Jeremy said. "I'll ask Chica to look out for you."

Mike agreed to that, he started to warm up to Chica and was slowly becoming his favourite. He could see the logic in Jeremy's decision. Freddy would be the one trying to keep order, whilst looking out for Foxy. Said Fox would be too hyperactive to simply watch him. That, or he would be sulking in his cove. Bonnie would try and set up pranks. Chica would be the only one to keep him grounded.

Besides he could really use that right now.

* * *

Freddy was in the in the backstage room, occupied with his thoughts. The nights guards hadn't shown up so he asked the others to watch the place until they arrived. Besides, if somebody was to break into the building then he knew the others would take of it. Hopefully, in a non-lethal way because now there was no need for things to get more difficult then they already were.

He was thinking about what happened the other night, when he heard that child talking. Freddy wasn't sure where it come from. It might have been from one of the kids he met in the past, whenever he met them after performing on stage. But there was only a certain amount of names he could remember at a time, appearances too. If it was name he remembered from before the upgrades were made then he doubt he would be able to remember them, least of all what they looked like.

But, it wasn't just the name that was familiar to Freddy. The voice he heard sounded familiar too. He could have been imagine it but it sounded a lot like him, only... more child-like. He could be mistaken but it sounded like the words came from his mouth, only in a much gentler and less deeper tone. He had said those words before but he didn't know where they came from...

"**_Your starting to remember..."_**

Freddy blinked. Where did that voice come from? He turned around to look behind, it took everything inside of him to not let out a screech. There, sitting on the table, was a gold bear. Although, sitting comfortably was an understatement. The bear was in a slouched position, its jaw was hanging on and its head was tilted to the right. Perched atop its head was a top hat that was similar to Freddy's but its colour was dark blue. The bear's fur was gold, and it had a dark blue bow tie in the same spot as Freddy's The arms were fixed by it sides, the paws were facing upwards. As Freddy went in for a closer look he noticed a few wires and parts of a endoskeleton were exposed, that seemed to be the only part of it holding the bear together. Freddy's eyes drifted to the bear's head. There were no eyes. Just a void of emptiness, save for a pair of white pin pinpricks that were staring back at him.

Freddy started backing off, the pinpricks were following him.

"Who are you?" Freddy asked.

**_"My name's not important. It was lost to the others a long time ago. Though, if you want a name, you can call me Goldie."_** The gold bear replied.

"Goldie." Freddy repeated.

The name didn't sounded familiar, and he had never seen this bear before. Where did he come from? It could have been an older model, it certainty looked that way. But the others would have seen him before and told him about it. And, as far as he was aware, the other hadn't never told him about a gold bear before. So, why was he here now then? And what was he suppose to remember?

"What do I need to remember?" Freddy asked.

**_"It is vital that you and the others remember who you are, it lessens the hold he has on you."_** Goldie told him. _**"Only when the four of you remember will you be able to seek help."**_

"That doesn't really help." Freddy said. "How am I suppose to remember something when this is the only thing I know. I've been like this from the moment I have been activated. There's nothing before that."

_**"How can you be so sure?"** _Goldie asked instead.

Freddy opened his mouth, ready to protest. But the words didn't come to him and instead he closed his mouth. Was there something before this? He couldn't remember. There were bits and pieces he remembered from the other locations, memories he wished he could forget. But, a part from that, there was nothing before that.

When Freddy didn't answer him, Goldie pressed on. _**"Think back to what you did before, to what you did every single night."**_

_To what you did every single night. _How could he forget that? Each night of hide and seek, trying to get inside the office. Of course, they were different back then. Back then it was a game, with the grand prize being the night guard. Each night they monitored the place. It was like they were looking for someone. Maybe they were looking for children to entertain and said child was in the office.

Everything changed after the upgrades. They were no longer compelled to walk a certain path. They had freedom over their own movements, their own voices. The upgrades made them more sentient. But, there was always someone who showed them that something was wrong. That what they were doing was wrong.

"That was you. You showed us the errors of our ways." Freddy whispered. Or, as close enough as he could get to a whisper.

"**_I tried so hard to stop you and the others from walking that path. You trusted that person all to easily, even after what happened to you. And, when I found out what he really had planned for you, he trapped me inside the suit."_ _Goldie responded_._ "After that I tried so hard to reach out to you, to help you remember. But there was only so much I could do like this. And there is still too much to be seen."_**

"Why?" Freddy question. It was the only question he could think of.

**_"Because your memories are a lie. You only see what you want to see. Or rather what he chose for you to see." Goldie answered him. "The four of you - Well the five of us, actually - we were all set down, one that meant to give us life in the darkness. But, without realising it, we have been trapped and forced to play the part in something much more bigger."_**

"How do we escape?" The brown bear asked. This was too good to be true, but..

**_"You have to remember, that's the key in all of this. Remember who you are. Remember what you used to have before it was taken from you." Goldie told him._**

"Remember... Does this have to do with a certain Gerald?" Freddy inquired.

But the bear didn't answer him. Instead, much to Freddy's surprise, he vanished instantly. As best as he could, with what his body could allow him, Freddy looked around the room for it - in case it showed up again. Much to Freddy's dismay, after a few minutes passed, the bear didn't show up. It was probably something he said, the bear didn't seemed thrilled when he brought up that name. Why though? Did he not like that name? Was there something about it that troubled him?

So many question, yet no answers. Freddy wondered if the entire conversation even happened in the first place.

He thought now was the best time to talk to the others. He walked over to the door, opened it and left the room. As he closed the door behind him, the white pinpricks were following him again.

"Remember us, Frederick. We can't let him win..."

* * *

Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were all sitting in the main dining room, with Chica been the one to keep an eye on things. The night guards were late and Chica couldn't help but be worried. Whilst she was certain they could look after themselves, she could shake the negging feeling that something was wrong. It must have been the Mother instinct kicking in, despite the fact that they were both grown adults.

Between making pizza and cupcakes and providing backup vocals for Freddy, looking after the children was her given role in the group. If they were hurt and needed some cheering up then she would help them. If they needed help finding their parents she would help them. If they wanted some of her special cupcakes then she would give them one. That wasn't just her main role. She also kept order in the place and stopped kids from being mean to each other. She knew it wasn't her place to stop them, that was down to the adults and the kids parents, but Chica didn't want to see anybody get physically hurt.

Chica looked towards the door leading to the reception area when she heard the sound of pattering feet. A few seconds later Jeremy entered the room with a messenger bag. When she walked over to him she noticed Mike slowly walk into the room.

"There you guys are." Chica said. "Where have you two been? We were starting to get worried."

"More like Chica was started to get worried." Bonnie snickered along side Foxy.

They didn't see the murderers look the chicken was giving them.

"Sorry, Chica. Something came up and it needed to be sorted before we came." Jeremy replied. He turned around slightly to look at Mike, Chica followed his eye sight. The redhead looked crestfallen. He was refusing to make eye contact, his arms were wrapped around himself - for protection, if Chica were to guess - and it looked like he had been crying. Jeremy turned back to Chica."Could I talk to you for a moment, in private?"

"Sure." Chica agreed.

She gave a warning to Bonnie and Foxy, telling both of them to leave the redhead alone as she followed Jeremy to the kitchen.

"So, what happened?" She asked.

"Its just that... Mike's not feeling too good at the moment. He was a little upset earlier and I had to take care of it, that's why we were late." Jeremy explained. "Do you mind keeping an eye on him? I know you probably busy with Bonnie and Foxy but I need to look into something for a friend of mine."

"I'll keep an eye on him." Chica replied.

She wasn't entirely thrilled about it, the fault wasn't with Mike but with Jeremy. Was it really that important when a friend needed him more? Chica decided to not say anything. If anything it would probably come out as rude and not questioning.

They left the kitchen. Jeremy watched as Chica went over to the redhead. He acknowledge her but didn't say thing. Chica said something to him and guided him over to where Bonnie and Foxy were sitting. He didn't miss the look she gave the bunny and the fox, one that probably meant to behave or else. Now that he noticed it Jeremy hadn't seen Freddy when they entered the room. He noticed the door to the backstage room was closed and made a wild guess that he was in there. Jeremy decided to leave them to it.

Instead, he made his way to the Security Office. He placed his bag down on the table and open it, revealing a laptop. He brought it out and quickly set it, pulling as the piece of paper that had the name of the website Mike was talking about. Seriously, how he managed to find it in the first place was a mystery to Jeremy. When his laptop was ready Jeremy clicked on a search engine and typed the sight in. He quickly found what he was looking for and clicked on. As expected there were a collection of posts detailing previous events that happened at every single Freddy's location. Jeremy wanted to check all of them, but for now he looked into the ones that talked about anything to do with missing children.

_"Regardless of what Fazbear Entertainment says, there have been reports of children going missing. Not just at one location, but several others as well. According to the camera footage the kids in question haven't been seen leaving the building, so there's no guarantee that have been abducted. That being said the kids are still missing and the Police haven't found them yet. Although, what was strange about all of this I that they all happened at birthday parties." _

"Hmm. Interesting." Jeremy commented.

Jeremy went on, hoping to find more information. Just as he was about to check another post he noticed something that caught his eye. There was one post that went into detail about Toy Foxy.

Clicking on it he was greeted by two images, one of them he recognised. The other was of a complete Toy Foxy.

_"To be honest I don't know why they decided to keep Toy Foxy, considering the amount of times she kept getting ripped apart. If your asking me it was an accident waiting to happened which, eventually, it was. Its just like I said in a pervious post its like they don't care anymore. Why keep using the same faulty animatronic when you could do decent repairs on it or bring a new one in. I understand that there are money problems if a company isn't doing so well but, according to website, the company spent a small fortune of them so surely there had to something left to make any repairs."_

_"But back to the point at hand, Toy Foxy's condition wasn't that great. I don't know how they managed to do it but I guessing that the main body wasn't all that durable. I could be wrong but I think all of the Toys were made out of plastic, considering the possibility that they almost look like life-sized toys. With Toy Foxy herself it looks like she had been ripped apart and parts of her original body have been damaged. Now she looks like a jigsaw puzzle. Although, when I was getting a proper look at her, I did hear a peculiar sound coming from it."_

"Wait a minute. That sound like the same sound I heard before. I thought I was the only one who heard it." Jeremy muttered, before reading on.

_"The sound wasn't the best but I managed to get a recording of it and reverse it. It wasn't that clear, but it sounded like there was radio call from a police officer. There was only one event that I was told about where the police and paramedics were involved. It happened twenty-two years ago. There was the old diner, it was much more smaller then Freddy's and there were only two animatronic performing at the time. There was an incident with one of them. Sadly, much of that information was lost a long time ago but from what I was able to find out there was little boy who was hurt in the incident. There was a birthday party at the diner, it was meant to be the little boy's birthday party but instead of a happy day the end result became a nightmare. The boy's head had been shoved inside of one of the animatronics and its jaws were shut with the boy inside. Nobody knows if he made a full recovery..."_

"Poor kid. What a horrible end to your birthday." Jeremy said, before making a humming sound. "Carlos went through a very similar fate. Why are there so many killer animatronics?"

There was something more to this. Clearly, somebody was working behind the scenes and tapering with the animatronics. Unless they malfunctioned on there own, they shouldn't be killing people. There were two many coincidences going on for it to be something else. Strange behavioural patterns, night guards going missing

Once again the radio was mentioned.

Once more his thoughts turned to the dream he had about Toy Foxy. He heard the same muffled sound of the radio, he also heard the words little boy. What if its not what he's suppose to remember, but something that needs to be remember. Something that has been neglected for so many years.


	11. Curiouser and curiouser

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 10: Curiouser and curiouser.

* * *

_There was a gentle melody playing, one that was hauntingly familiar yet he couldn't figure out where from._

_He was sleeping in a four posted bed. The bed was wooden, the covers and pillow were white. The lace curtains were drawn, protecting him from the cold reality but there was still light coming through them. It was like he was in his own little world. There was somebody by his side. They were lying on there left side behind him. A hand was caressing his locks, the movement was gentle as to not to disturbed him. if anything the movement made him smile. They were safe. Safe from the pain they had both suffered, from the solitude they were forced into. Safe from those wished to harm them. _

_They were watching him sleep. If anybody else came into the room they would have seen it as possessive, they probably would have called them a stalker for the way they was observing him. But, between the two of them, that was not the case. He always had trouble sleeping. Sometimes he was disturbed by nightmares, or arguments coming from downstairs of his old house. Sometimes he was woken up forcefully. But not right now. The person behind him kept him calm, they soothed his troubles away with a few simple words. They only woke him if the nightmare was too much, after that they would pull him into a hug and soothed his worries away.  
_  
_He was slowly drifting awake. For once he slept peacefully, the smile was still present on his face. He turned around to look at the person behind him. There was nobody there. _

_He looked around the room. Though it was rightfully his, it was unfamiliar to him. It was a mixture of old and new. It had the necessities of a standard bedroom: a wardrobe, table and chairs, a bookcase with a collection of books, a white vanity table with light around the mirror, a couch in red leather with a television in front of it (The tv on a black stand. Going in for a closer look he noticed there was game consul with different games stacked neatly under it) By the bed was a small table. Instead of a light source there was a music box._

_In the corner of the room there was a canvas, by its side were storage drawers and, much to his delight, he could see the paints placed neatly inside. He removed himself from the bed and walked over to the painting. It was a portrait of a women. She looked familiar to him but he couldn't remember where from. Though, as he traced the painting with his fingers, it felt like he was looking at a female version of himself. Only much older, though probably not that much older, and her hair was longer. He had to stop himself from continuing. It was like the women's eyes were baring into his soul. _

_He walked over to the vanity. It was an odd item to have in his room but he guessed it was just to help with keeping up appearances. He looked at himself in the mirror. There were no bruises or scars. It was like he was back to his normal self, before the pain starting showing. _

_That's when he got a proper look at what he was wearing._

_He was wearing a suit of red and black. A black tailcoat jacket, a red winged collar dress shirt and trousers with a brown belt in between. Looking down he noticed a pair on black shoes on his feet with red lace. It was remarkable that they weren't crumpled whilst he was sleeping. He did like it. It was like it was made for him. Although, they weren't his usual style, he preferred simpler clothing over elegant. Clothes in which he could hide away the pain inflicted on him. _

_When did he put these on? _

_His gaze went towards the door. There was music playing from somewhere. It wasn't like the melody coming from the music box. He walked towards the door in a trance like state, almost like something or someone was calling for him. He opened the door and walking forward, taking in the scene before him as he did. There was a beautiful garden before him. There was some sort of party going on. There were people dressed in elegant gown and suits, all of them in different colour and shades and there were masks on their faces._

_He walked down the stairs. As he was walking around he noticed that there was some sort of garden party going on. The guests were going in between tables, which had a variety of foods and drinks on top of them. Honestly, his mouth was watering and was tempted to try each of the treats before him. He kept on walking, taking in everything around him. It was honestly beautiful and wonderful, it looked like something out of fairy-tale There were fairy light everything, each one of them flashed in different colours. There were a few decorations handing from the trees and in the middle of the garden party was a marble water fountain. _

_There were two thrones under a white canopy tent. He walked towards it and took a seat in one of them. He closed his eyes and leaned back slightly. He could get used to this. He preferred to keep to himself, to stay out of trouble less he get beaten. That, or he would try and stay out of the spot light and have a background role instead of a staring role. But this wasn't like that. Nobody was looking at him._

_There was some sort of mumming sound in front of it. He opened his eyes again. _

_Everybody was watching him. Some were mummering to each other, others sent disapproval looks. The smile on his face disappeared. Had he done something wrong? Was he meant to address the crowd before sitting down? Was he suppose to talk to the guests and enjoys the festivities instead? He felt an uncomfortable warmth enter his body, panic started setting in as they kept starting at him. He didn't belong in that seat._

_A pair of arms were wrapped around him from behind him. Looking up he saw the face of a man who was staring at the crowd, his eyes were cold. He was glaring at them in disprovable - not because they didn't belong there, they were his guests, but because they were making the him uncomfortable. He was protecting him from them. He lowered his head again, looking at the crowd instead. The guest went back into there merry ways, completely ignoring the two of them as if they hadn't noticed them before._

_He looked up again. This time the man was looking at him. His eyes were no longer cold and there was a smile on his face. He removed his arms from around him and took a seat in the throne next him. As if by magic a table appeared before them, on top of it were a collection of treats and drinks - juice for him, tea for the man. Together they indulge themselves with the treats. They talked to each other, shared stories with each other and laughed when they said something funny. They enjoyed each others company, and nothing was going to ruin that. _

_Then the winds changed._

_They both felt it, the guests were too busy caught up in their own enjoyment to noticed it. Slowly, the man got up and made his way to the crowd, nobody noticed him as he made his way forward. He waited for the man to come back. Minute turned to minute yet the man still hadn't come back. A sense of fear crept inside of him. He stood up and followed after him. _

_Eventually, he caught up to him. _

_The man turned around, his appearance had changed slightly. His eyes were lighter but there was something sinister about them - he was frightened by them, but also felt hypnotised by them. There was light facial hair around his mouth. His hair was darker but it looked like a completely different colour. He was wearing a suit with different shades of one colour, on his feet were black shoes. _

_A smile appeared on the man's face. Though, there was something sinister about it. The man offered him a hand, he didn't know why but there was a sense of longing in his eyes. He walked towards him in a trance like state, his right hand reached out ready to accept it. But the man started walking backwards. Not once did he lower his hand or drop the smile. He passed through a pair of black curtains._

_"Please, come back! Don't leave me! I don't want to be alone again!" _

_He walked through the curtains._

_And then... nothing. _

* * *

Diana was busy working in her parents living room.

As she told Jeremy and Mike the previous day she had gone to the police station to talk to her boss. Needless to say the results were both predictable and frustrating. Whilst he was surprised with sudden development he told Diana that there wasn't enough evidence to reopen the investigation. However, he decided to allow her to start working on the case at home providing that she would give updates whenever she and/or her partners found new evidence.

The frustrating part of the conversation was that chief of Police wouldn't accept the blog posts. Diana had insisted that they were vital to the investigation as they were exposing certain events that Fazbear entertainment wanted to cover up. But he told her that most of it was one person's opinion, and that the events that the person had been talking about were investigated by Carlos and herself. Unless she found anything new through the posts they wouldn't be relevant for the investigation.

Needles to say, by the time Jeremy showed up, Diana was still fuming.

"Hi, Diana." Jeremy greeted. "It take it things didn't go well with your boss."

"You can say that again." Diana remarked. Looking up she noticed that Jeremy was the only one standing in the room. "Where's Mike? Has he been delayed or is he not coming."

"He's not coming. He told me he was running errands for somebody." Jeremy replied. "I'll tell him everything we will go through tonight."

"You don't sound happy with what Mike told you." Diana noted.

Jeremy sighed. "Its not what he told me that bothering me, Diana. Its just..." The brunette hesitated. He needed a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I think Mike's hiding something from me."

"What do you mean?" The black haired girl questioned.

"Last night I arrived at Mike's house to pick him up so that we could go to work together. But he was running late and I was starting to get worried. Eventually, he came out of the house but he started waling down the street instead. I went after him because he had bolted out of the house and he looked upset. I caught up to him, reach out to stop him and in response he shoved me the ground. Once he realised what he had done he was crying and was practically begging for my forgiveness." Jeremy explained.

Jeremy paused for a second before continuing. "He's also been acting strange. He's been acting jumpy. He's been avoiding questions and insisting that he's fine but I can tell that he's not. The first time I went to pick him up he was crying. Its like he's a completely different person. From what I remember he used to happy, now he's quiet and withholding everything to himself. In fact when I found out he was my co-night guard he didn't recognise me."

"It sounds like he's being abused." Diana said. Upon seeing the look of horror on Jeremy's face, Diana clarified her observation. "There are many types of abuse, Jeremy. It's not always sexual. It could be physical abuse, it could be psychological or emotional abuse. From what you've told me it sounds like he's being emotional abused."

"If that the case then why won't Mike tell me about it?" Jeremy inquired.

Diana sighed. "Its not that simple, Jeremy. Mike might in a position where he can't tell anybody about what's happening to him. He might be fearful of his own life or for the people around him. Besides he might not trust you enough to open up to you. What you can do until he is ready and comfortable enough to talk is that you can offer him support. You said that Mike didn't recognise you when you found out you were both security guards, correct? Perhaps you two should spend some time together and, you know, do what normal friends do. It might be good for the both of you, especially since your working in a hostile environment."

It was an eye opener, one that Jeremy hadn't considered. There was a small part of him that hoped it wasn't true but there was no denying the signs that Jeremy had seen. It also made sense as to why Mike was reluctant to talk to him. Jeremy thought back to yesterday when Mike responded to his line of questioning. He didn't want to talk ill about his friend but did Mike deflect the whole conversation? Or, did he only tell him the half true?

"Can you talk to him?" Jeremy asked.

"I can but I can't promise anything. I can, however, direct him to somebody suitable for this." Diana replied.

"That's all I can ask for." Jeremy said.

Diana nodded. "No problem. I hate to move on from this but I have some news of my own."

"Oh yeah. Did you say you were going to talk to your boss about the investigation." The brunette replied.

"I did. Unfortunately, I didn't get the results I was hoping for." Diana said. "He told me that he wasn't going to reopen the investigation without new evidence. But, he did tell me that I could go ahead with what I want to do. Follow me."

Standing up Diana walked out of the room and Jeremy followed after her. She took him to the garage where everything was set up. On one of the walls were a collection of photos, newspaper articles, posts, a building layout of previous Freddy locations.

"It's not ideal but it will do for now." Diana said. "This is a copy of what me and Carlos were working on."

"This is perfect. How did you managed to obtain all of this?" Jeremy replied.

"The articles and the posts were taken from that blog Mike told me about, that was all done last night. The photos were taken at the different locations we visited" Diana explained. "Everything else was taken from what me and Carlos found out. Although, there is still one thing we don't know."

"And that is?" The brunette asked.

"A motive." Diana revealed. "Why would you kidnap a child in the first place? And, did something happened during all of this that lead to a potential death? We have considered the possibility that there is no motive and that the killer did it for his or hers own enjoyment. But, from what we have seen, it looks like all of this was premediated."

Jeremy hummed. "Because a child wouldn't be able to defend themselves. Unless they had some sort of training, like self defence for example, then they wouldn't stand a chance against a murder. They are weak and vulnerable and easy pray."

"Exactly. They would be easy targets. And, since they were lured away by somebody wearing a mascot suit, they were manipulated to follow that person. Again, for what reason?" Diana agreed.

"Maybe the murderer did it as a personal vendetta to Freddy's. If they were kidnapping children and the employees can't find them then people will start loosing trust with the company, regardless of Fazbear entertainments trying to sugar cut the whole ordeal." Jeremy suggested.

"That's one possibility." Diana replied, writing something down as she did. "Anything else?"

Jeremy thought back to his time at the old location with the Toys. He remembered the strange information he heard from Scott. The phone guys told him about the Toy animatronics having a facial scanner which was connected to a criminal database.

"The Toy animatronics had some sort of criminal database, one that would detect a predator from a mile away. I was doing my job one night and I found out that somebody messed with the animatronics." Jeremy recalled. "What if the murderer tampered with the animatronics so that they wouldn't find any connections to their previous crime? Not only that but the animatronics are the entertainment of the Pizzeria, the kids love them. If the animatronics weren't in good condition in the first place then would start glitching whilst they were performing or wondering around the restaurant."

"Hmm. That's not a bad theory. However, by the looks of things, this person has a clean state so there's no connections to previous criminal activity." Diana replied. "Although, there might be another reason as to why they did that. The criminal database is connected to the police records, right. But, what if its also connected to a list of current and previous employees. What if the murderer created a fake identity but they were recognised from a previous location. If that happened then the murderer would have to tamper with the animatronics and remove that connection from their memory."

"That makes sense. It would also explain how they were able to carry out multiple kidnappings." Jeremy said.

"True. I think we should seek out the Toy animatronics, just to confirm our theory." Diana replied.

"There was something I wanted to ask. It said in the newspaper article that the person behind the kidnappings had been arrested." Jeremy said. "But, since there was more kidnappings after that event, then I'm guessing something happened."

Oh, right. That whole debacle. Diana felt a headache coming on even thinking about that. And, most of that oncoming headache was coming from what happened afterwards. Carlos had been fuming after they got yelled out by there boss, even going as far as swearing in his native language.

"The wrong man was arrested." Diana revealed. "Myself and Carlos had interviewed him but he told us that he was framed. On that day he hadn't been working near the room where they kept the suits. It was mostly for nostalgia and for special birthdays. But, he did noticed something suspicious and went to investigate. He doesn't remember what happened next since he had been knocked out but when he came around he was covered in blood."

"So, he had been framed whilst the actual murderer still walks free." Jeremy summarised.

"Yes. That was our first mistake, even though it had nothing to do with me and Carlos. The second... well, you know what happened." Diana replied.

The incident, an unfortunate event that could have been avoided all together. Jeremy could tell that Diana still had some remorse about the whole ordeal. If Diana had intervened and went with Carlos on that day then there was a possibility that the whole ordeal could have been prevented. And, as much as Jeremy wanted to believe, there was no telling what would've happened instead. What if a kid had wondered into room and Toy Foxy attacked them instead? What if Toy Foxy managed to get out of the room and started prowling around the restaurant, scaring both children and adults in the process?

There were too many what if to considered instead of an alternative.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mike was making work of Jonathan's errands. As expected Jonathan gave him a list of things to do. Or, rather a list a things he needed. And, at the moment, Mike had only managed to gather a few items before he needed to stop. He had only managed to get a few hours of sleep in. Once again he had a strange dream, one that eventually turned into something of a nightmare. Then, as soon as he made his way downstairs to eat something, Jonathan had been waiting and gave him said list. Mike tried to point out that he needed something to eat first but Jonathan denied him and order him out of the house.

He was lucky he managed to sneak in a couple of snacks and a bottle of water into his bag before Aisha and Jonathan woke up - somehow Mike knew Jonathan would put the blame on him if he noticed that something was missing. But, that wasn't enough and Mike was still hungry and was feeling a touch light-headed. Perhaps now was the right time to get something to eat.

He noticed the Pizzeria on his right. It had to be a coincidence that he would end up coming here out of the food places. Well, he did have some spare money. And, he had the opportunity to see the place during the day.

"Mike?"

Mike blinked. He turned around and saw Savannah standing before him. Her hair was up in a ponytail, it was a little bit short than the previous day. She was wearing a grey shirt, a lavender crop top jacket, navy blue jeans and black shoes. There was a little girl holding her hand. She had shoulder length black hair and green eyes. She was wearing a red shirt, a brown jacket, black jeans and flat shoes.

Mike smiled. "Hey, Savannah. How are you doing?"

"Not to bad, Mike. Although, madam here wanted to go to the Pizzeria." Savannah replied. In response the little girl, who Mike guessed was her niece, stick her tongue out playfully. Savannah made a pretended to take offense. "Oh, such bad behaviour little lady."

"Then don't call me names." The girl remarked.

Mike couldn't help but laugh at the banter between the two of them. There was something about it that reminded him of him and Rachel.

"Anyway. Mike meet my niece, Jasmine." Savannah said.

"Hi, Jasmine." Mike greeted, waving his right hand as he did.

"Hi." Jasmine replied, waving back. Looking up at Savannah she asked. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Savannah sighed. "He's not my boyfriend. Why do you keep saying that every time you meet one of my friends? Besides, no offense to Mike, but he's not my type."

"Oh, but somebody like Jeremy is." Mike playfully remarked.

"Maybe." Savannah replied. "So, do you want to come in with us? I have more then enough money and I know once we get inside Jazzy here will want something to eat."

"Really? I don't want to impose..." Mike tried to decline

"Its not imposing, Mike. I'm inviting you to come with us." Savannah said.

"Alright, but let me pay my half for the pizza. That way we're equal." Mike replied.

Savannah agreed to that, and Jasmine had no problems with it either. Together the trio entered the pizzeria and made there way to the main party room. They managed to find a good table near the show stage and they made there order. As they were waiting Mike and Savannah made talked to each other. It turns out, though probably not surprising, that Savannah is quite athletic. She likes basketball and she was trying to get her niece into it, Jasmine told her she didn't like sports in response. From Jasmine he learnt that she liked to collect teddy bears and she likes video games. When it came to Mike turn he brought out his sketch book and showed Savannah and Jasmine what he was working on.

Eventually, their pizza and drinks were brought over to them. Mike wasn't much of a pizza loving guy but the food was good. He wondered if Chica had a hand in making it.

Looking at the Prize corner Mike saw Matt coming out of the near by door. He was trying to grab something from one of the top shelfs but he wasn't having much luck. Mike told Savannah that he would be back in a little bit and made his way over to the prize corner. He lifted up the counter, walked over to the shelf and got the item Matt wanted.

"Geez, Mike. You can't be sneaking up on people like that." Matt said.

"Sorry, Matt. But it looked like you needed some help." Mike replied, handing him the item as he did.

"Suppose I did. Thanks for that." Matt said. "Actually, do you mind helping me for sec? I know you don't work the dayshift and your probably here for some else, but I could really use an extra pair of hands and there are some items on the top shelfs that need to come down."

"Sure. I don't mind help you. And two people can get the job done faster." The redhead replied. "Lead the way."

Matt opened the near by door and Mike followed him inside. There was a storage room connected to the Prize corner and there were rows of different prizes on the shelves. Matt told him what needed to be moved and he pointed out the items that were on the top shelves. It took them a few minutes to gather what Matt needed, since Mike was taller then Matt he managed to get the higher up items without a problem.

"Thanks for help, Mike." Matt thanked. "I don't know how stuff gets up there sometimes."

"It's no problem, Matt." Mike replied. He noticed one of the Freddy plushies on a nearby self and wondered if he could take one for Jasmine. "Say, Matt. Could I take one of the Freddy plushies? I came in with friend and she brought her niece in with her. She's been collecting teddy bears and I thought I could give one to her."

"Well, if that the case then you can take one. I don't think Gavin will mind either way." Matt said. He grabbed the plushie that Mike saw and handed it over to him. "And, consider it a gift for help me. You didn't need to help me yet you did it anyway."

"I don't mind, and it gives me something to do" Mike shrugged. "Is there anything else that needs to be done?"

"Well, I do have these boxes that need to go to the achieve room." Matt recalled. Upon seeing the confused look on Mike's face he explained himself. "Its on the second floor. Its where we keep all the important information like newspapers and other things. I have two boxes that need to be taken upstairs. Do you mind lending me a hand?"

"Sure." Mike said.

Matt walked over to the two boxes he was talking about. Mike followed him and place the Freddy plush on one of the boxes before picking it up. Matt picked up his box and together they left the room. As they were making there way to the stairs Mike went over to Savannah and Jasmine and gave little girl the plushie. Needless to say Jasmine was over the moon and hugged Mike as best could, though Mike did crouch down so Jasmine could give him a better hug. Mike honestly felt like crying. Only a few people gave him gratitude for his work so he couldn't stop the actually joy appearing on his face. Even Matt and Savannah were smiling, with latter thanking Mike for getting something for her niece

With that done Matt and Mike made there way upstairs, taking an all to familiar path that went past Mr Johnson's office. The archive room was two doors down. As expected the achieve room had rows of bookcase, each of them stacked with all sorts of information There were filling cabinets, a few tables placed next to each other, a few old photos on the wall and some boxes stacked neatly on top of each other.

Matt placed his box on the table. Mike did the same as Matt picked up a spare piece of paper and started writing on it. He told Mike he was leaving a message for the person who's meant to be working in here. When he left the room Mike decided to stay for a moment. He was certain that he wasn't meant to be here on his own, especially since he had other things to do, but he couldn't help his curiosity. He walked over to a nearby bookcase, this one had old newspapers. Perhaps he could find something that would be useful to the investigation.

He didn't noticed a pair of eyes watching him with curiosity.

Mike was about to pull one of the newspaper out when he heard something fall to the ground. He jumped and started looking around the room frantically. Yet, there was nobody there. He calmed himself as best he could but he was still on edge.

"Who's there?" Mike called out.

"Its only me, Vinny." Vincent said, completely coming out of nowhere. He was looking around the room, it looked like he had just been caught doing something bad. Once he  
noticed Mike was looking at him his eye lit up and there was a smile on his face. "Oh, its you. I was wondering if I would see you again."

"You did." Mike said. He sounded hopeful and hoped that Vincent hadn't noticed it. For one it was nice having somebody thinking about him.

"Of course. After all you still own me a story." Vincent replied, walking towards him as he did. "And, I wanted to apologise for the other day. I think I was intruding on your personal space and you looked a little uncomfortable."

"Just a little. I'm not really used to somebody putting their whole attention on me." Mike said.

"I see." Vincent said. "Well, I'm sorry you felt that way. I know I can be a bit imposing, believe me I get that from my brother, but when I see somebody who I care about I tend to do more then normal."

At that moment a lot of weight lifted from Mike's shoulders. He was trying harder then normal to keep it all in, he didn't want to break down in front of Vincent. He was trying to convince himself that he misheard him yet Vincent's expression never changed. Why? Why did he care about him?

"Why?" Mike whispered. "You barely know me."

"Fritz told me what happened when you wanted your job back. He didn't mention your name but it wasn't that hard to put two and two together." Vincent explained. "I know Gavin has a temper but that cause he's having some problems with his marriage and one of his sons. But, you shouldn't allow people like him to step over you. I know that might be hard sometimes, and its completely okay if you can't do that right now, but people like that want to see other suffer just to make themselves feel better."

"It sounds like you talking from experience." Mike observed.

"I am, Mikey. And people like us have to sick together. That way nobody will break us." Vincent replied. He put both of his arms out. "Hug? You look like you need it."

There was no denying that. The last few house, days even, were so stressful and emotional that Mike decided to accept to Vincent's offer. He didn't know why but felt protected in Vincent's arms. Protected and comfortable. Though he had only know him for a short amount of time, Mike was stating to trust him. Vincent didn't push him to say something. Nor did he didn't hurt him. The only thing he did was comb his hand through Mike's hair, the moment was gentle enough to not worry him.

The hug ended once the door opened. Gavin walked inside, in his hand was a clip board and it looked like he was reading something.

"Vincent, are you nearly done in here? Natalie needs an extra pair of eyes down stairs and -" Gavin started but as soon as he saw Mike he cut himself of. "What are you doing here, Schmidt?"

"He been helping me." Vincent covered for him. "I know you have your opinions and concerns, Gavin, but Mike has been nothing but helpful. Why I believe that he even helped young Matthew carry those boxes upstairs."

Mike turned to Vincent with confusion on his face. How did he know about that?

"Are you sure about that?" Gavin question. "No offense to the young man but he does look a bit flushed."

"Yes. You do look a bit pale." Vincent noted, taking a proper good look at Mike. It was like he had completely forgotten about Gavin all of a sudden. "And there are some dark circles around your eyes. Have you had trouble sleeping lately?"

"I've had trouble sleeping for a while now." Mike admitted.

"Poor thing. Perhaps you should take the night off? I'm sure Gavin won't mind and we do have two night guards right now so..."

"No! I can work tonight, I promise." Mike exclaimed. He quickly turned to Gavin. "I just need to get some sleep in before my shift tonight. But other then that I am completely fine."

"If you insist, Mr Schmidt." Gavin replied. "Although, you need to know that would've considered giving you the night off if you needed rest. Regardless of Vincent's suggestions."

Vincent pretended to not hear him. Although, he was fuming on the inside. Instead, he goes back to looking at Mike's face. He noticed Mike's eyes looked a little bloodshot,

"Your eyes are slightly red. Have you been crying recently?" He asked.

"I... Uh..."

"Alright, that enough Vincent. Lets not get carried away now. Like Mr Schmidt said, he's completely fine." Gavin interrupted. "Anyway, if your nearly finished in here, Vincent, then Natalie could use your help down stairs. Apparently, somebody has been moving things again."

"Of course, Gavin." Vincent replied.

With nothing else to be said, Gavin left the room.

"You didn't have to do that for me." Mike said.

"I know. But I wanted to, Mikey." Vincent replied. "Besides, like I told you earlier, people likes us have to stick together. And, you still own me a story."

"But, aren't you needed downstairs?" The redhead questioned.

"Yes, but I'm not done in here yet, am I?" Vincent replied.

Mike couldn't hold back his laughter, Vincent joined him too. He was adamant about hearing Mikey's story and, once the laughter died down, Mike told him. He told him about his week as the night guard and Vincent asked him question when he could. It was nice having somebody who would hear him out. He was grateful that his afternoon had been much more happier then the start of his day. It was like he was returning to his old self without being pressured in any way. And, if he was being honest, he really needed it right now.

It was a much deserved break. Even though Mike knew somebody wouldn't be happy about it.


	12. Finding a connection

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 11: Finding a connection.

* * *

By the time Jeremy arrived at the Pizzeria Diana and, surprisingly, Mike were already there - although the redhead did text him, informing him that he had asked Aisha for a lift and that there was no need for him to drive to his house. After there meeting Diana had agreed that she would meet them at the Pizzeria. She was wearing a dark blue suit with a white waistcoat and black shoes, her hair was tied up in bun.

It turns out Mike had some very interesting information for them. There was an achieve room on the second floor and, whilst he hadn't been able to get a proper good look at it, he found out that they were storing old newspapers and other valuable information inside the room. Jeremy did wonder how he came to know that. Wasn't he suppose to be doing errands for Jonathan? It sounds like he spent the afternoon at Freddy's instead of working. But, after the conversation he had with Diana, perhaps he needed the afternoon to himself, whilst working on those errands.

The conversation he had earlier was still fresh in Jeremy's mind. The small part of him that believed it wasn't true was still lingering in his mind. But, the more he thought about it the more it made sense. He blamed himself for not noticing the signs sooner, for forcing Mike to talk when he couldn't, for not helping him sooner. All he could hope for now is that Diana's talk with him would be successful. If not then he didn't know what to do. Where do he and Mike go from here?

He got out of his car and walked over to them. Diana was the first to noticed him. Mike was sitting on the ground busy working on something, he must have been listening to music because he didn't noticed him until he got close.

"Hey Diana. Hey Mike." Jeremy greeted. "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad, Jeremy. I'm ready to get some serious work done." Diana replied.

"Yeah, me two. Its about time we got some results." Jeremy agreed. "Mike."

"One sec. Almost done." Mike responded. They watched him as he made some quick lines on the paper he was working on. When he was finished he closed the book, put it in his bag and took out his headphones. He looked up at them and, to there surprise, there was a smile on his face. Jeremy had to do a double take. Why was he smiling? "Sorry about that. I needed to get this rough sketch done before I showed it to the animatronics."

"Why?"

"Its a little gift, for last night." Mike replied.

Jeremy nodded, recalling what happened the night before. Perhaps Chica, Bonnie and Foxy were able to cheer him up after he left them, it would make sense if Mike was creating a gift for them.

"So, why is Diana here?" Mike asked "No offense, Diana but you shouldn't be here at night. Especially after midnight."

"None taken, Mike. I decided to check the place out, see if there anything connected to our investigation and I figure now would be the best time to do it." Diana replied. "Besides, if those animatronics are the same as the Toy animatronics then you needn't worry. I know they move around at night. Besides, I want to have a look in the achieve room."

"Oh right. Jeremy told me about that." Mike recalled. "You and Carlos decided to join Jeremy one night."

"We did. We heard rumours about the building being haunted and, of course, Carlos wanted to look into it." Diana said. "Back then I didn't think it was related to the investigation. But, if we hadn't gone that night then I don't think Carlos wouldn't have found the murderer in the first place."

"He found them? How? And why didn't he tell you?" Jeremy inquired as he opened the doors.

"It was dark when he encountered him, and he was bleeding. The only thing he really remember was seeing grey and purple. The murderer didn't give him a name, didn't state what he was doing at the Pizzeria so late at night - although, apparently the reason as to why he murdered the kids was because he wanted revenge against the company" Diana explained.

Well, there you go then. We have a motive." Jeremy said.

They made there way towards the main dining room. Jeremy stayed behind for a moment to lock the doors behind him before joining Mike and Diana in the main dining room. Diana was frowning. Whilst it was true that they did have a motive - a possible motive - there seemed to be more to this story then meets the eye.

"The thing is, Jeremy, I believe that there's more to it then that. There was some else that Carlos remembered. When he asked the murderer if he a family the murderer told him that he did." Diana revealed.

"He had a family." Mike whispered.

"He did, which begs the question why did he murderer the children if he had family?" Diana replied. "He had no regret with what he did, even though he had kids of his own. He spoke very fondly of them, he wanted to return to them after he had finished at the Pizzeria. If Carlos hadn't allowed his pride to get in the way then he could of been arrested already and there would be no need for all of this. But we couldn't have known what happened next."

"Do you think they are still with him?" Jeremy asked.

"Possible. I don't think he would kill them, he loves them too much to even consider killing them." Diana answered. "He might be keeping them against there will. Manipulating them so that they stay with him. We'll never know, will we?"

* * *

As soon as the clock hit midnight the animatronics were activated. They saw Mike and Jeremy sitting at one of the table. Technically, they were suppose to be in the office, that much they knew, but at this point it didn't really matter any more. They were on friendly terms with the night guards, they might even consider them as friends.

Although, to there surprise, there was somebody else sitting with them. It was young women with black hair and green eyes. Freddy, Bonnie and Chica looked at each other. Why was this women at the Pizzeria so late at night, especially after midnight when nobody except for the night guards were suppose to be there. They had never seen her before.

They saw Foxy coming out of Pirates cove. He stop walking once he saw the night guards and the women. He made eye contact with Freddy, his head was tilting to the side like he was asking Freddy a question. With his free hand he pointed towards the trio, mostly to the women who had her back to him. Freddy shook his head, indicating that he didn't know who she was.

It was Mike who noticed them. "Hey, guys. Don't be scarred, you can come closer."

It was Freddy who moved first, Bonnie and Chica were right behind him. Foxy seemed hesitant for a few seconds but he went over to where Freddy and the other were standing. They were being careful. If they went too close to the women without knowing who she was then they might end up attacking her.

"Hello." Freddy greeted.

He hoped he hadn't gave his sentience away. Without looking at them he could tell that Bonnie, Chica and Foxy were glaring at him. Technically, he hadn't done anything wrong. The greeting was a part of the original programming. But, they still had to keep there sentience a secret. Only the members of staff know about it. If somebody from outside the company - a rival company, for example - knew about there sentience then they could replicate it for themselves. It wouldn't be a bad thing. In anything it would only make there rivals more lifelike. But you could do anything with their technology. And they didn't know who this women was.

"You can talk some more. Diana already knows about you guys." Jeremy told them.

"She does."

"I do. Mike and Jeremy told me about your sentience. Besides, I already know that you guys roam around at night." Diana replied. Upon seeing the look Freddy was giving the night guards, Diana was trying to hold back her laughter. "Don't worry about it. Your secret is safe with me."

"So, since you already know about us, were you a former night guard?" Chica asked, trying to change the conversation.

"No. I am a police officer working on case. I found out about you guys six years when me and my partner were investigating the 'New and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria'." Diana explained. "Its nice to see you four fixed up after so many years."

"Don't remind us." Bonnie grumbled.

Freddy gave him a warning look before returning his attention to Diana. The black haired girl didn't seemed fazed by Bonnie's words. Perhaps it takes a lot more to irritate her?

"Don't mind Bonnie, Diana. You just caught him on a of day." Freddy said. "Anyway, there is something you should know. Things were different back than, we were different. We did somethings that we are not proud of, even if we didn't have any control of our actions. We were just robots."

"And you guys have changed now, right?" Diana asked, raising an eye brow as she did. She didn't know where they were going with this.

"I suppose so." Freddy hesitated. "There's no forgiving what we have done, and there's nothing we can do to change it.

Diana wasn't convinced by Freddy's answer. It was too cryptic for her liking. She turned to look at Mike and Jeremy but the night guards shook their heads, indicating that now was not the time to talk about it.

_"So the buildings not haunted then. It was the just animatronics roaming around at night. They must have did something to make it sound like it was haunted." Diana thought._

"Why were ye investigating the Pizzeria?" Foxy asked.

"Because me and my partner were investigating a series of kidnappings that happened at the Pizzeria." Diana told him.

"Kidnappings!" The animatronics exclaimed.

They had been an uproar of questions and outrange from the animatronics. How could this have happened? When did this happened? How come the kids haven't been found? There were too many questions for Diana to answers, and even then she didn't have all the answers she needed.

"Please, one at time. I can't answer all your questions if you keep shouting at me." Diana requested. The animatronics quickly settled down, eagerly waiting for Diana to answer there questions. "Thank you. Now, whilst we don't have everything we have yet, I'm doing everything I can to find these children. Although, me and Carlos had considered the possibility that they are dead. We haven't found their bodies yet. Only blood and some items that belonged to the children."

"How come they haven't been found?" Chica asked.

"Because we don't know where there are. There are multiple outcomes that could of happened. All we know is that they never left the building." Diana answered. "For all we know the kidnapper could've broken into Freddy's one night and moved them out the building whilst the security camera were down."

"The camera feed doesn't go down that often, Diana. When I was working here four months ago the only camera was down was the kitchen. It only goes down when these guys move and even then its only for a few seconds." Mike pointed out. "So, unless all of the cameras went down at the same time, the kidnapper would have to have inside knowledge of the place in order to find out where all of the cameras are."

"It all adds up, Diana. Whoever is responsible for all of this has to be a former employee." Jeremy said . "The question is who did it?"

The animatronics were quiet as they were listening to the conversation. Whilst taking in the new information Freddy was thinking about some things. How could this have happened? And, why was nothing done about it sooner? There had to be certain measured carried out in order to prevent kidnappings being carried out. Unless it was done whilst the kidnapper was undercover, masquerading as somebody else or... wearing an gold suit.

Wait... where did that come from?

"Have you consider the possibility that the former employee might still be working at Freddy's?" Freddy inquired.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"When Mike was working here four months ago he found a note waiting for him in the office. Whoever left it for him told him to tamper with our systems so that he could get fired." Freddy explained. "Only the mechanics know about our systems and they wouldn't give that information out to anybody. Unless the kidnapper is from another location, whoever it was had known about our systems. They knew about our patterns, what we did at night."

"Well, to be fair, its not that hard to figure out once you work out the pattern. All you had to do was watch Foxy and check the camera on the right side of the office." Mike reasoned. "As for Bonnie and Chica, as long as you had good hearing or could see really well in the dark, then you should be good as golden. No offense you two but your not as quiet as Freddy."

Bonnie looked offended by that comment, Chica didn't mind as much. She was the reason as to why the kitchen was a mess all the time. She didn't know why but she had a feeling that she liked cooking. Sometimes she did help out in the kitchen, her special cupcakes were in there after all. But, there was something more - something that she wanted to do. It was like she wanted to own her own bakery.

Jeremy was thinking about what Mike said. His thoughts were drifting to the previous phone calls he heard at the old location.

_"Uh, the first guy finished his week, but complained about... conditions. Uh, we switched him over to the day shift, so hey, lucky you, right?_ Uh mainly he expressed concern that certain characters seemed to move around at night, and even attempted to get into his office._"_

_"Someone used one of the suits. We had a spare in the back, a yellow one, someone used it...now none of them are acting right."_

"What if its a former night guard?" Jeremy suggested. "Think about it for a moment. Apart from the mechanics who else could know about the animatronics? Unless somebody really hates their job then who else could've left that note for Mike?"

"Hmm. Mike, I hate to ask but could I borrow a page from your sketch book? I need to write something down." Diana said.

Mike brought out said book. He opened it, purposeful selecting a page that didn't show he latest piece, and past it and his pencil over to Diana . The police officer thanked him and started writing something down, making some brief notes about what they discussed. It looks like they were finally getting somewhere.

"So, achieve room?" Mike said.

"Sure. As long as we can get inside." Jeremy replied.

* * *

Getting inside the achieve room was a surprisingly easy. It turns out all they needed was Jeremy's keys. Upon entering the room both the night guard and the police officer were taken aback by the amount of stuff in the room. Sure, they had been interested in the room but they didn't think there would be that much stuff in the first place. Why did they have this to begin with?

"How did you find out about this room, Mike?" Jeremy asked. "I was under the impression that you were running errands."

"I was." Mike huffed. "I wanted something to eat and it just so happens that I was outside the pizzeria at the time. Savannah and her niece came in with me and we ended up sharing a pizza. It was Matt who told me about the achieve room. He needed some boxes taken upstairs and I decided to help him."

"How come you couldn't have a looked around earlier?"

"Vincent was in here. Then Mr Johnson came into the room and demanded to know why I was in here. Vincent defended me." Mike recalled, smiling at the memory as he did.

"It sounds like you trust Vincent more then me." Jeremy muttered. "I don't know why. The guys a creep."

Luckily, neither Mike or Diana had heard him. Diana was standing in front of filling cabinet. She opened it and started shuffling through some of the newspapers. By the looks of things the newspaper were from previous locations. Perhaps the company decided to keep these so that they remember what happened in the past so that they don't repeat the same mistakes. There was one that caught her eye. Diana pulled it out of the cabinet.

**Local pizzaria threatened with shutdown over sanitation.**

Local pizzaria, Freddy-Fazbear's Pizza has been threatened again with shutdown by the health department over reports of foul odor coming from the much-loved animal mascots.

Police were contacted when parents reportedly noticed what appeared to be blood and mucus around the eyes and mouths of the mascots. One parent a likened them to "reanimated carcasses".

"Hmm. Didn't one of the blog posts mention something like this before?" Diana questioned, showing the two night guards what she found.

"Yeah. It was the one I found." Mike replied. "Why?"

"Do we know the reason as to why the Pizzeria was closed in the first place? You know the one before the 'New and Improved Freddy's'" Diana inquired.

"I think it closed down because the place was left to rot." Jeremy recalled. "It could be anything but there was some sort of smell coming from the old animatronics - you know the ones down stairs, that's why they were they in the Parts and Service room and used for spare parts."

"It could be down to poor maintenance, by the looks of things it looks like they haven't been dealt with for a long time. But why was there blood on them in the first place?" Mike added.

"Unless somebody had an accident and it just so happened to land on the animatronics. And, even then, somebody was bound to noticed it on the animatronics if it wasn't cleaned up." Jeremy replied.

Maybe... But, if the place hadn't been kept in good condition for a while then why would the animatronics be? It wouldn't make sense if your only interested in keeping the animatronics in proper working order unless your going to do the same for your Pizzeria.

What if its not on the outside but its coming from the inside?

"I need to go ask the animatronics something." Mike said.

"Wait a sec, Mike. Do you mind if I go with you?" Diana asked. "There was something I was hoping to ask you."

"Uh, sure." Mike replied.

Mike glanced at Jeremy. He didn't seemed bothered about not being able to tag along. And, yet, there was something in his eyes that told him he knew what Diana was going to ask. He tried not to frown as he left the room with Diana.

They had made downstairs when Diana stopped walking.

"So, what did you want to ask me about?" The redhead asked.

She turned to face him. "Mike, before I ask you this you need to know something. I would never ask you something that would make you uncomfortable. Especially since the nature of this topic is a sensitive one."

"Okay." Mike said.

"Is everything okay at home? Me and Jeremy would talking about it earlier, he expressed great concern for you." Diana asked.

Mike went to open his mouth but no words were coming out. He was shocked by Diana question, and Jeremy's concern. He should be angry. After all Jeremy did go behind his back to talk to Diana about what he had seen. But, at the same time, he was relieved. Relieved that somebody finally took notice. Relieved that somebody was concern about him. He only wished that it had gone a different way.

"No... Everything is not okay." Mike whispered. After taking a moment he spoke a little more loudly "There this guy living with me and Aisha, his name is Jonathan. For a while now he been hurting me, both physically and mentally. I don't know what to do anymore."

"How long has it been like this?" Diana inquired.

"Sine I was fifteen." Mike replied. "At first it was nothing. For a year or so he just wanted nothing to do with me, I don't think Aisha noticed at first. It was like I was trespassing on his and Aisha's alone time, which is fair because adults needs to do things together. But things changed one day. His sister had a miscarriage and he just started taking his anger out on me. He was belittling me, hitting me, making me do things for him - not of a sexual nature, he just wanted me to do jobs and errands for him."

"About six, maybe seven years now." Diana said. "Why hasn't Aisha left him? You said she didn't noticed at first."

"I think she's afraid of him." Mike guessed. "At first it was probably because Jonathan was having a hard time accepting the fact that Aisha had two kids with her, so perhaps she was giving him time to adjust. But, a few days ago, she decided to have words with him about it. If she wasn't successful with him, then she was consider leaving him. But, before the night shift last night, Jonathan pined me against the wall in my bedroom and yelled at me, saying that it was my fault that Aisha was going to leave him."

"Why are you living with Aisha in the first place? Why are you not living with your family?" Diana inquired.

"I don't know who my parents are. I don't even know if they are alive, and even if they are alive I don't remember them." Mike replied. "Somebody brought me to Aisha's thirteen years ago, an old friend of hers apparently. I don't know why but somebody is looking for me. Somebody with bad intensions. Aisha told me that as long as I'm living with her I am safe."

Diana was taken aback by that. How can he safe if he is being abused at home? Why does he have to live with Aisha if he's old enough to look after himself? It might be a money issue but either way it feels like Mike can't win, neither can Aisha. And, there is no telling what Jonathan might do if Aisha ends up dumping him. Logically she should arrest him. But, she didn't know what type of person Jonathan was. He might be able to run away or get the upper hand if she tried to handcuff him.

It depends what Mike and Aisha want to do. The least she could do is find out more information about Jonathan.

Diana reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. She hand it over to Mike.

"Whatever you decided to do you should give these people a call sometime. They are good people, Mike and they will listening to you." Diana said. "Or, if you don't feel comfortable doing it give it to Aisha."

Mike smiled. There were some tears coming out of his eyes but it was out of happiness. "Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile the animatronics were waiting for the night guards and the police officer to come back. Bonnie was playing his guitar, Chica and Foxy were talking to each other. Freddy was sitting at one of the tables, occupied with his own thoughts. He would give anything for a distraction right now, even if it was just Bonnie messing around. But that would only last for so long and eventually he would have to go back to his old thoughts.

There was too much information for him to process.

Firstly, there had been that visit from Goldie. He didn't know what the golden bear wanted from him, and he was still no closer to finding out what he was suppose to remember. Part of him was still debating that the conversation hadn't happened in the first place. But, if that the case then why was did he emphasize the point that he and the others needed to remember something?

Secondly, there was the conversation he just had with Diana. Learning about the missing children had been an upsetting experience. Why wasn't anything done sooner? Were there security measures that basic that they couldn't even prevent a child from being kidnapped? How long had this gone unnoticed? There were too many questions to consider without a possible answer.

"Hey, Freddy. Why were you so blunt with your questions earlier?" Bonnie asked.

Freddy looked over to the bunny who was sitting on stage. Normally, he would have hated being distracted like this but he welcomed the distraction this time. Yet, he didn't have a good answer for Bonnie's questions. For a brief moment he looked over to Chica and Foxy. Both of them were looking at him, eagerly waiting for Freddy's response.

"I saw something last night. I'm not sure what it was, it was either a spirit or a hallucination. Whoever it was he called himself Goldie." Freddy said. "He told me that I need to remember something."

"Remember what, Captain?" Foxy asked.

"I'm not sure really. Something about remembering who we are, and that we need to remember what was taken from us." Freddy replied, uncertain about the whole conversation

"Whats that suppose to mean." Chica questioned.

"I don't know, Chica. It could be anything." Freddy replied. "There was something else as well. He told me that he was the one who showed us the errors of our ways. That what we were doing was wrong. I don't know what we did but we chose to walked down a certain path, one that was forced onto us."

"Hmm. You know this is going to sound strange, especially since its coming from me, but... what if he rights?" Bonnie said.

All three of them turned to him in bewilderment. Did he just say something like that?

"What? I do have a mind of my own you guys, I'm not just the prankster of the group." Bonnie huffed. "There is something strange going on."

He placed his guitar down on the stage before standing up. He walked over to them.

"What were we doing before the new upgrades? We were just roaming around the building because of our programming, if we weren't then our servos would lock up. If that the case they why were we trying to get inside the office? We did we end up killing the night guard?" Bonnie explained. "And, even then each of us were doing some strange things. Foxy needed to be watched carefully. Freddy loved to hide in the dark and the only way to find him was by his glowing eyes. Chica would go into the kitchen. I was looking into the camera. Why though? What was the purpose of doing all of this?"

"You know I always had this feeling that we were searching for somebody." Freddy revealed. "And, sadly, the night guard ended up in that person's position."

"And, if the kidnapper is a former night guard does that mean we were looking for that person?" Chica added.

"But why, lass. Why would we be looking for that person?" Foxy questioned.

"Perhaps... that person has the answers that we all need." Freddy said.


	13. Selective memory

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 12: Selective memory.

* * *

"So from what I understand, it sounds like you four were looking for this former night guard for some reason. However, instead of finding this person, you found the other night guards and they end up getting killed instead." Diana summarised.

Diana and Mike were talking to the animatronics in the main party room. They were telling the night guard and the police officer about there conversation, about what the golden bear told Freddy and the reason as to why they were hunting the night guard.

Diana was pacing back and forth, taking in the new information. It sounds like they were both looking for the same person. Why? Why were they looking for the kidnapper?

"Do you know why you were trying to find this man?" Diana asked, stopping in front of Freddy.

"We're not sure. We believe that this man has the answers were are looking for." Freddy replied. "According to Goldie we need to remember something that was taken from us. But, all we remember is entertaining the children from other locations, as well as our nightly activities."

"Is there anything else you can remember?" Mike asked.

Freddy tilled his head to the side. It looked like he was thinking about something. "Three nights ago you mentioned something about us being a family because of the way we acted. Which is true because me and Bonnie argue sometimes, Chica is the Mother hen of the group and Foxy always needs attention every now and then. Anyway, for some reason I like the idea of us being a family and as I was thinking about I heard a child talking to me. 'They said Gerald, can you help me? I want to win a Freddy plush.'"

"Oh. So that why you were acting strange the other day." Bonnie realised.

"Yes. At first I thought it was just the name of kid we used to entertain but it just sounded so familiar to me, like I know who that kids was." Freddy replied. "And, that not all. Whoever said those words it sounded very familiar to my own voice."

"Wait a second. What was the name you just said?" Diana questioned.

"Gerald." Freddy replied.

Diana's eyes widen. She took a few steps like she had been hit by something and went back to pacing. That can't be right. Perhaps its another Gerald.

"This has to be a coincidence. It has to be somebody else." Diana muttered.

"What's wrong, Diana?" Mike asked.

Thee police officer stopped pacing. She turned to face Mike, considering her next words as she did. This was going against police protocal. Nobody was suppose to know the full details about the police investigation. But, since Mike and Jeremy were working with her perhaps, and it would only be just this one, she could give them more information.

"Gerald is the name of one of the missing kids." Diana informed him.

"Is it?."

"Yes. Although, It might just be a coincidence and Freddy could just be remembering the name of one of the kids who used to come to the Pizzeria. However, both Gerald and his brother were at Freddy's on the day he and the rest of them were missing. According to there father they were attending there friend Felix's birthday." Diana explained. "The other four are Felix Rogers, Chloe Philips, Brandon Wilson and Gerald own brother, Frederick Clayton. And this was only the first group."

"The first group."

"There were twelve in total, one in which I only found out recently thanks to Mike." Diana clarified. "The first group were lured away by a man wearing a old mascot suit, I'm guessing the second group were lured away by the same circumstances. We don't know what happened to the third group."

"An old mascot suit, you say?" Freddy said. "Like, a golden bear for example."

"Sort of. According to our evidence the only diner to use mascot suits was Fredbear's family diner, and even then the suit doubled as wearable suit and a animatronic." Diana replied. "I take it this 'Goldie' is the golden bear you speak of."

"Yes. He did look like some sort of costume." Freddy said.

"Is there a way to summon Goldie? He might have more information for us." Diana inquired.

"I'm not really sure. I was sitting in the backstage room when we met." Freddy replied. "And, I don't think he's an actual animatronic. He's more of a spirt, or a hallucination. He vanished quickly when I brought up Gerald."

Diana nodded, a bit disappointed that there new lead was nothing more then a dead end. Although, if they could find Goldie, or summon him, then perhaps she still might be able to get more information - there again, if she told her boss about it then he would say that she was crazy for even bring up the idea of getting information from a ghost bear.

_"Oh, wait a second. I said that the building wasn't haunted earlier, didn't I?" _Diana thought. _"No matter. I need to find a way to summon that bear, whatever information it has it could become valuable for the investigation." _

_"_If you guys don't mind I have a question of my own." Mike stated. "Whilst we were looking inside the achieve room we came across a newspaper article that said one of the old Pizzerias was closed down due to sanitation. Apparently, there was blood and mucus and a foul smell coming from you guys. Do you guys know anything about it?"

Mike watched as the animatronics traded looks with each other. Mike raised an eye brow at that, wondering why the animatronics were being suspicious again. They knew something, this wasn't the first time they acted like this. Why though? What were they hiding?

"Why would you want to know about that?" Bonnie demanded.

"Because we don't know the full story. I know you don't like it, Bonnie, but we need answers." Mike replied. "We have children being kidnapped, a company that hasn't done anything to find them, a mysterious person who's going around working behind the scenes causing trouble for the Pizzerias. Unless we have answers we not going to find these missing children. And, no offense, but apart from what Freddy just told us, none of you guys have been helpful so far."

They were all taken back by that, even going as far as hanging there heads in shame. Mike felt bad about what he said, despite how truthful it was. He hadn't meant to yell at them like that. But, he was so tired. Tired of people and animatronics hiding everything from him, from them. Maybe there was a good reason for them not wanting to talk about what happened in the past.

"I'm sorry." Mike apologised.

He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

"Mike does have a point though. We don't have the answers we need and there's still a lot we probably don't know." Diana pointed out. "But that kidnapper is still out that, who knows what he has planed next? We have to find him before he strikes again."

"We understand that. But, Bonnie does have a right to be angry, even though I don't approve of it." Freddy replied.

"And, its not directed at you two or Jeremy." Chica added.

"Then help us understand." Mike said. "Tell us what happened at the old Pizzeria."

Freddy wanted to protest, there was no need of bringing up the past - especially since they couldn't control what happened last time. But, he knew he couldn't keep doing this. Sooner or later they would have to talk about what happened at the old Pizzeria.

"All right." Freddy sighed. "You might want to sit down though. Its a long and complicated story."

He waited until everybody was sat down before telling the story.

"From what we know it happened twelve years ago, though I say that lightly because we don't know what exactly happened. It was the final day that Pizzeria was opened. We were preforming on stage, I had just done my intro when my voice box started glitching. I was saying words that weren't pre-recorded. Saying words like 'Kill me' and delicious flesh' " Freddy recalled. "We all started glitching at the same time. We ended up scaring a lot of people that day, children and adults. I guess the years of neglect were finally catching up to us."

"Really? That not how I remember it." Bonnie remarked. "The bit on stage happened but something else happened as well."

"What do you remember, Bonnie?" Mike asked.

"I think it was just before we were activated for the day. The cleaning crew had come in, but there was someone else as well. I think it was a man." Bonnie said. "Anyway, nobody was watching him as he came up to us. He brought out a object, a hammer I believe, and started to hit parts of our bodies. That how my face ended up being badly damaged."

"But, someone would've seen him. The cleaning crew or the security camera." Diana said.

"Are you sure it was on the stage and not the backstage room?" Mike questioned.

"It might have been. All the rooms looked the same." Bonnie said.

Diana had brought out the piece of paper. She was making notes again, trying to piece together what Freddy and Bonnie said. Two different stories, though somewhat familiar. How the man managed to get away with what he did? Perhaps Bonnie was mistaken and the incident happened behind the scenes and not on stage. Or, maybe the security camera were down in that moment. Why attack the animatronics in the first place?

… Unless his end goal was to shut down the Pizzeria. That's why he put so much work into shutting it down.

"Bonnie, what do you remember about this man?" Diana inquired.

"He was tall, I think he was about 6'8. His eyes were black only a little lighter, they might have been grey. There was a chain around his neck and he kept fiddling with it." Bonnie replied. "I think he was wearing a uniform in blue and brown. Oh, and his hair was pulled back slightly. Which was strange because I had only seen that type of hairstyle on one other man, the one who left that scar on that blonde kid's face..."

Bonnie had been interrupted by Diana dropping her pencil. Everybody was looking at her, and it turn she was looking at Bonnie.

"What scar?" Diana asked. "And how do you know about it?"

"Well, the kid try to fight back. The were four others in the room, he was the oldest and he was trying to protect them from him. There had been scuffle between the two of them before the man slashed the kid's face with a sharp object." Bonnie said. "The mark looked bloody. It went from the top of his right brow to left side of his nose, it had lined up to the middle of his left eye."

That's... that's not possible. How could Bonnie remember something like that? They had checked the cameras. The animatronics were preforming on stage when the kids were lured away. So how could Bonnie know about what happened?

"You know... I remember seeing some particular scar marks as well. There was a few on the arms and on the each of the necks." Foxy said.

"Its him. It was him all this time." Diana realised.

"What do you mean?" Mike asked.

"The kidnapper, he has worked at Freddy's before. He is a former employee, and I'm guessing he has worked the night shift as well. He had all of this planned from the start. The kidnappings, the sabotage, the work behind the scenes "Diana told him. "When me and Carlos found the items that had belonged to the children we were surprised by the amount of blood on the floor. If you kill somebody then there's bounded to be a blood on the floor. But, there wasn't that much on the floor in the first place. Either the kidnapper cleaned up after himself or there's something else going on."

"Then why would he leave a note behind?" Mike questioned.

Ah. right. That part didn't make sense. Why would the murderer want to help Mike? From what Diana remembered about the investigation he had killed previous employees before. So, why did he even help Mike in the first place? Perhaps he felt sorry for him. After all Mike was in a difficult position each night, having to keep the animatronics out of the office at night. That would make sense since the murderer has done the night shift before and about the animatronics. But, would he have done the same for Jeremy?

What made Mike so special in the first place?

* * *

_**"Hmm. Well, its a good start but there's still a long way to go. And, that not the entire story."**_

_Goldie was watching the group meeting from his hiding spot. He had to admit it was interesting. His friends were so close to the truth, they had accidently revealed it to the Police Officer and the night guard. But it was frustrating. The didn't know the meaning behind there words. It was no fault of there own. There memories had been blocked because of Him. _

_Though, to be fair, his own memories were blocked as well. He was slowly remembering everything that had happened to them. _

_The night guard was promising and, if they needed help from anybody, then it should be him. He too had almost figured it out but he needed more information before making judgement. That was fine. He was the only one in the dark about all of this. And, soon he would have all of the answers he needed. All of them, even if he didn't like it. _

H_e didn't know who's blood ran through his veins._

_He hadn't meant to overhear the conversation he had with the Police Officer but due to his incorporeal state he really didn't have a choice in the matter. He felt sorry for him. He had no family, nowhere to call his own and he had been hurt on a daily bases. He knew what it felt like. Of course he had been hurt that day but he knew what it was like to live without certain family members. He had heard that story from one of his friends. _

_As for Jeremy and Diana, Goldie had to admit that they were stupid. The answers were in practically in there face, in this bloody Pizzeria. Yet, there were blind. They needed to do some more digging and they would get the answers they needed. But they were searching in the wrong places. _

_Maybe he would indulge Diana and talk to her. He would be a lot more useful then his friends at the moment. _

**_"Grownups will always be stupid. There's no point in believing in them. There words are lies." _**Goldie groaned.**_ "They could've stopped this. Or, found us sooner rather then later. But, because of them, we are forced to live in these prisons until somebody saves us. Saved us from our reckless decision to follow that dummy." _**

_Who could save them from their prisons? _

_Perhaps now was the right time to steer them into the right direction. After all that dummy wasn't around to stop him this time. _

* * *

Jeremy was still in the achieve room, none the wiser to the conversations that were happening downstairs. At the moment it didn't matter, Diana or Mike would fill him in later on. Besides Diana needed to have that conversation with Mike. He hoped the talk had been successful. He knew Diana would be able to get through to him.

Though, as he was reading through some of the company logs, his mind drifted to something he had said earlier. When he said that Mike trusted Vincent more then him. He didn't regret what he said. It was rather bitter of him. He was annoyed that somebody else had gotten through to Mike whilst he hadn't been so successful - even though he was the one who comforted Mike after what happened the other night.

Why did he trust Vincent? They were looking at the same person, right? Did he not see the way Vincent staring at him? He had been completely enthralled by Mike' appearance, complexly forgetting that both he and Fritz were in the same room as the two of them. He could tell that Mike was uncomfortable by the whole thing and thankfully it had all been over Mike being fired. But, if that's the case then why was he so mesmerised by him? Fritz had wanted both he and Mike out of the room immediately.

Was Mike in danger then? Was that why Fritz wanted them out of the room? They were trying to get inside the basement, maybe Vincent would've informed Mr Johnson and both of them would've been in trouble.

"Perhaps I'm over thinking it. I have been watching too many thrillers again with Lucy." Jeremy muttered.

_"Or, it could be the fact that your jealous because somebody else is looking out for Mike and he trust them more then he trust you." _

Immediately, Jeremy shook the thought away. Now he was definitely overthinking it, and he had been doing at lot of reading as well. Maybe now was time for a little break? He could do with something to drink as well and he could easily come back to the achieve room whenever he needed.

He walked over to the door. Before he could open it he heard fall the ground on the left side of the room. He looked over to where the sound had come from. There was a book on the floor. He walked over to it and picked it up. There was a possibility that either of them could get in trouble for being in the room after hours. They had to be careful and put everything back to where they found it. Jeremy placed the book back on the table.

There was a piece of paper poking out of the book. It looked like it had been ripped out the book. That or somebody had placed it inside the book. Now was probably not a good time but he was curious about it. He opened it up and his eyes widen once he saw what was inside.

"The heck." Jeremy muttered as he picked it up.

There was a drawing of a all to familiar person, though it looked a little unfinished. But there was no mistaking who was on that piece of paper. It was a portrait of Mike. It looks like Mike was somebody's muse. Jeremy didn't know that much about art but there was a certain amount of effort put into it. Why was this in here? And, how long for that matter? It couldn't have been that long ago. Whoever it was had to be in the room before night shift.

… Only a few people had talked to the night guards.

… And there had been one person in the achieve room before Mike entered it.

"I need to show this to Diana. There's something not right about this." Jeremy said.

Before he could move however the room started to go cold. Jeremy had to do up the blazer up before he made his way to the door. Though, before he could open it, he heard somebody laughing behind him. Slowly, Jeremy turned around. On the wall before him there were several disturbing drawing on a child's face with blue tears coming out of its eyes. There was writing on the wall that looked like it had been done with blood.

Jeremy couldn't look away from it. He walked to the wall, preventing himself from blinking in case the scene disappeared. This was defently some kind of trick. The drawings hadn't been there before. But, why was it here in the first place? What was the purpose of showing him this? His eyes shifted to the writing on the wall.

"Beware the one with the grey eyes." Jeremy read.

"Its me!"

Jeremy gasped and quickly turned around. He was breathing heavily as he looked around the room. There was no one there but he could've sworn he heard somebody behind. He started to calm himself. Perhaps he had imagine. He turned around to the face the wall again. The drawings and the writing had disappeared.

There was a new piece of paper on the wall, however.

"Tomorrow night I shall be downstairs. The door to the basement will be unlocked. I have the answers you need to solve this madness."


	14. Twelve years ago

Down the rabbit hole.  
Chapter 13: Twelve years ago.

* * *

_"Happy birthday, Felix!"_

_The redhead was practically grinning from ear to ear. Today was his birthday and was surrounded by his four friends. Despite how overprotected his Mother was, Mrs Rogers had arranged for him to have his birthday party at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. And, of course, he had sent invites to his four closest friends. The table they were sitting at was close to the main stage, the animatronics were performing on stage although at some point Felix hoped they could see Foxy's show - Foxy had always been his favourite._

_The food, the drinks and the birthday cake had already been delivered. Felix had already blown out the candles, making a wish and a promise to himself that he would never tell his friends no matter how much they asked, and the cake had been cut down and passed around. There were also few birthday presents on the table and Felix couldn't wait to open them. But that would wait until later, after everybody had finished eating._

_Chloe was being careful with her food, she had been the only one who made an effort for the party. She was wearing a pink dress with white ruffles at the top, around her waist was a pink ribbon with a bow in the front in a lighter colour, and white shoes - everybody had been treating her like a Princess, Felix included even though it was his birthday. The redhead himself was wearing a red hoodie, black jeans and shoes. Brandon, who was surprisingly calm for once, was wearing a black shirt, a dark teal jacket, navy blue jeans and black sneakers. Frederick was wearing a winged blue collar shirt , a brown body warmer which was open, black trousers and shoes. Gerald was wearing a teal turtleneck, a black jacket, blue jeans and shoes with black shoelace._

_It was a wonderful occasion. Everybody was getting along with each other and they were happily talking to each other. But the best bit was about to come._

_"Alright children." Felix's Mother had gotten their attention when they finished eating. "Now its time for the presents. Who wants to go first?"_

_Naturally, as everybody had expected, Frederick went first. His gift had been wrapped up in red and gold wrapping paper - they were Felix's favourite colours. As soon as the redhead opened his first gift he couldn't help but squeal in delight. Frederick had gotten him a complete pirate costume with a toy cutlass. Felix was so overjoyed that he got out of seat, ran over to the brunette and almost tackled him down to the ground - Gerald had managed to step in and prevent them from falling._

_"Alright, Felix, no need to go over bored." His Mother said._

_"Sorry, Mum. Sorry, Fred." Felix apologised before taking his seat._

_Chloe went next. She brought him a several colouring books and a pencil case filled with different shades of colours. Brandon had brought him a new video game for his game console, one that Felix knew he hadn't played before. He couldn't help but smile at the boy with ash brown hair. Felix and Brandon were friends now but there were times when they had gotten on each others nerves. Gerald got him a few books as well. There was encyclopaedia on creatures who lived in the different oceans (the kids version, of course.). There were books on sea creatures and monsters, fact books and picture books._

_All in all it was a good day. Right now, however, he wanted to play on some of the arcade machines. Who knows maybe he might be able to get a Foxy plushie today._

_"Mum, can we go and play now?" Felix asked._

_Chloe went next. She brought him a several colouring books and a pencil case filled with different shades of colours. Brandon had brought him a new video game for his game console, one that Felix knew he hadn't played before. He couldn't help but smile at the boy with ash brown hair. Felix and Brandon were friends now but there were times when they had gotten on each others nerves. Gerald got him a few books as well. There was encyclopaedia on creatures who lived in the different oceans (the kids version, of course.). There were books on sea creatures and monsters, fact books and picture books._

_Felix thanked his friends for bring such wonderful gifts. All in all it had been a good day. Right now, however, he wanted to play on some of the arcade machines. Who knows, maybe he might be able to get a Foxy plushie today. That would really make his day._

_"Mum, can we go and play now?" Felix asked._

_His Mother smiled. "Of course, sweetie." She turned to Gerald. He was the oldest of the group and, whilst she didn't like the idea of Felix running of on his own, she knew she would have to take her sons presents to the car or they would end up getting stolen. "Do you mind going with them, Gerald? I think it would be best it if I take Felix's gifts to the car that way they don't go missing."_

_"Not at all, Mrs Rogers." Gerald replied._

_Mrs Rogers couldn't help but smile. Gerald had such good manners. "Thank you, Gerald. I promise I won't be too long."_

_She gathered up all of Felix's gifts and made her way to the exit._

_"So, what do we want to do first?" Gerald asked._

_"I wanna go on the skee ball." Felix replied._

_"Same here. Also can we go on the racing machines?" Frederick said._

_"Do you think they still have the coin pusher machines?" Brandon asked._

_"Seriously, Bran? Remember what happened last time. You going to loose your money again." Chloe chimed in._

_"Hey! I learned my lesson from last time." Brandon exclaimed._

_"Brandon, your not going on the coin pusher machines." Gerald told him._

_"Fine!" Brandon sighed. "Can we at least go on the stacker game?"_

_"Sure." Gerald replied. He turned to Chloe. "What about you, Cloe? What do you want to go on?"_

_The blonde considered this for a moment. Truthfully, she didn't know what she wanted to go on. There were too many arcade machines that were too familiar and it was usually the ones that the boys wanted to go on. Chloe had no interest in the shooters or the racing games but that didn't mean she wasn't open to try them, even if she did a terrible job at them. Still though it would be nice if she could find something that would suit her interest. Perhaps she might try the claw machines whilst she was waiting for the boys to finish._

_She felt Felix touch her shoulder. "Its okay, Cloe. We can do something you like as well. I think they have hook a duck around here somewhere."_

_"Really?" Chloe questioned. "Uh, Gerald, if it not too much of a problem..."_

_"Of course not. We will keep any eye out for it, okay." Gerald replied. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Lets go!"_

_As soon as he said that Gerald had to stop Felix and Frederick from running off. There were suppose to stick together and anything could happen to them if they went missing. Besides, Gerald did promise Mrs Rogers that he would keep an eye out for her son. It wouldn't do them any good if they were to run off now, would it?_

_Together they made quick work of the different arcade machines. Brandon was rather skilful at the game, he made quick work of the balls before him and managed to obtain the high score rather quickly. Felix went next. Frederick went after him although he was having a hard time getting his balls in the middle of the scoring zone, there again this was his first time playing skee ball. Gerald and Bran gave him a few pointers and eventually he managed to obtain a rather remarkable total. Gerald was the one holding onto winning tickets whilst Chloe lingered behind them, watching on in anticipation as she was waiting for the scores to add up._

_They had moved on to the claw machine when somebody came up to them._

_"Hi there!"_

_Turning around the group saw one of the animatronics standing before them. Though, none of them had seen him before. It was a gold rabbit with light-green eyes. The inside of its ears were a lighter shade of colour as was its stomach. Around its neck was a purple bow tie and underneath the bow tie were two black buttons. It was about the same height as Bonnie, perhaps just a little bit taller. _

_Immediately, Gerald put his little brother behind him. "Who are you?" He asked. "How come we haven't seen you before."_

_"Me? Why, I'm Spring Bonnie. I only come out when its a special day." The rabbit told them. "In fact I believe its somebody's birthday today."_

_"O-oh! Me! Its my birthday today." Felix cheered was he was jumping up and down._

_"Felix!" Gerald scolded._

_"Felix, is it? Well then today's your lucky day." Spring Bonnie said. "You see on a day like today I give out a special gift for the birthday boy or girl. There's a special gift waiting for you in the new party room. Would you like to come with me?"_

_"Yes!" Felix replied._

_"Hang on a minute. Do you really want to go with him?" Brandon interrupted. "You don't even know who he is, let alone where this party room is. For all we know he could be a complete stranger who could do anything to you."_

_"And like Gerald said we haven't seen this rabbit before." Chloe added._

_"I have." Frederick said. Upon seeing the strange look his friends were giving the brunette clarified his response. "Well, technically speaking it was online. This rabbit is from an old location called Fredbear's family diner. He used to preform along side another animatronic called Fredbear but that diner had closed down many years ago, about sixteen years ago to be precise. I guess they decided to buy the old animatronics and use them for special occasions."_

_"Nerd!" Brandon snickered._

_"Brandon!" Chloe snapped._

_Spring Bonnie watched as the boy and the girl started arguing with each other. He didn't mind the interruption. In fact it was kind of amusing, despite the fact that little remark the ashen-brown haired boy said was rude and uncalled for. Despite that little intrusion he could tell that this was a close knit group and that they had each other backs - he took noticed how protective Gerald was of what he presumed was his little brother._

_"Hey! Stop it you two. This is Felix's special day and your both ruining it!" Gerald said._

_Brandon and Chloe stopped immediately. There was a slight blush on their faces and they turned away from each other, muttering an apology to the rest of the group as they did. So, it seems that Gerald is some sort of peacekeeper of the group. Interesting._

_Gerald turned slightly to look a the rabbit. He couldn't help but look at it suspiciously. He would've thought that the rabbit would've left by now. But he was still standing there. There was something not right about this. Why did he want Felix to come with him to the 'new party room'? Was there a 'new party room' and he was just being overprotected? If so then why didn't he invite the rest of them to come with them?_

_"Sorry about those two." He apologised. "Bran likes to make snide comments every now and then and Chloe doesn't like it when we start fighting with each other."_

_"Its not problem. You know the saying, friends stick together." The rabbit waved him off. "Listen, if your that concerned about your friend here why don't you all come with me? That way you keep an eye on your friend and make sure that nothing and happens to him. So, what do you say?"_

_"Can we, Gerry." Felix asked. "Please."_

_Gerald bit the corner of his lip. He was quiet the predicament now. He should say no but he didn't want to upset his friend. He was would've thought that Felix would have used the puppy dog eyes on him by now, Gerald couldn't resist him when he did that. Maybe he should go with him. He did promise Mrs Rogers that he would keep any eye on her son._

_"What about the rest of you?" The blonde asked._

_"Meh. If Felix wants to go soooo badly I guess I won't mind to much." Brandon replied._

_"I would like to see the present for myself." Chloe said._

_"I'll go where ever you go, bro." Frederick told him._

_"Alright. We'll go with you." Gerald agreed._

_"Excellent. Well then, follow me kids." Spring Bonnie said._

_They followed the rabbit out of the room. Gerald stay behind the younger kids, mainly to keep an eye on them in case anything bad happened but also to keep an eye out for anything adults that might see them. Gerald couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen and, if there were any adults near by then perhaps he might be able to call out for them in case something did happen._

_The rabbit took them into a room. There was nothing special about it. The walls were bare with no posters or drawing on them, they were coated in grey paint. The floor was still checked but was dirtier and it looked there were stains everywhere. There were a few wooden tables with various tools on them. On one of the table there were several small bags with tubes attached to it. There was also a first aid kit next to the bags._

_"Um... What's going on here?" Felix asked._

_They heard something land on the floor behind them. Turning around they saw the rabbit lying on the floor, it looked like it had been ripped open, and in its place was a tall man. His hair was strange colour and his eyes were grey. He was wearing the dayshift uniform: Blue shirt and trousers with a brown body warmer over the shirt. He was also wearing a black belt and shoes. There was also a gold badge on the man's body warmer. It looked like a shield and there was some writing on it but it was difficult to see._

_"̵̣̗͆̈́̉̿͘H̶̻̏ė̵̡̳͚̻̬͍͊͠l̶̢̞̪̥͓͇̄̆̄̓l̸̹͚͈̎̕͜ŏ̷̧͎̅͠ ̷̛͉̺̎͛c̶̙̑ͅh̶̢̩͍̭͍͗͐ȋ̶̲͍̞͆̈̏l̶̗̹̦̮͂ď̸̡̛̹͙̲͓̋̀̓̚͜r̶̡̬̓͒͝ę̶̳̂̍̅n̴̛̳̳̮͌͛̋̒.̶̧̣̖͓̼̏̃"̸͓̖̝̬̈̉̎ ̶̤̭̻͕̗̋̾͒_

_"Who are you?" Gerald demanded "What do you want from us?"_

_̴͙͚͔̭̕ͅ"̵̣͚̼̰̾͑͒͜M̶̤̥̩̺̙̘̾̒ỹ̷̯͐̆ ̴̨̝̲̈̀̄͛̄̒n̴͚̘̖̮̗̦͑a̸̤̞̦͇̓̀̃̾m̵̡̞̳̘̬̉͠e̷̱͖̺̥̿̈́̓'̵̖̥̔̓̌͗s̵͉̭͈͇̠̞̋̽͆̓͑ ̵̨͓̫̘̜̈͊̂ṉ̴͍̯͎͐̋͗̌̑̕o̴̤̲̦͋́̅͝ṱ̵̳̥̑̉̅̉͝ ̶̺͉̜͌͑͘r̵͈͈̝͖̮͉̀͂̉͋e̵͈̱͖͂̀͒ầ̵̢͈̭̞͚̈̾ͅl̸͓̰̣̙̣̓̑̽̕̚̕ḻ̵͙͚̱͑͝͝ȳ̵̤̬̭͖ ̶̧̫̲͚͗̕͠i̵̲̩̻̟͋̐̀̈́͘͠m̶̨͙͔̜͙͖̔̈̂́̽p̸͓͍̖̔͌̇̓͑͠ȯ̴̻̻̟̤̓̀̓r̸͓͕̼͕̮̊̃͗̎͘t̵̨̡̰͌̈a̵̙̭͊̓̒̇͝ṋ̸̢̦͍̋̅̋̿͋t̸̢́͋̉̕̚.̶̠̤̅͝͝ ̸̢͇͇̞̥̍͌͜I̶̢̟̩̗͉͇̿̀͂ ̷̝̞͔͕̞͑̒͊̉͝ḍ̸̞̱̦̯͍̈̂̄͛̏o̵̖͇̠̜̰͔͋̾͗̀̂ų̸̧̖̥͐̃̿͝b̸̧̨̨̮͇̒̆͗͊t̷̻̳͈̆ ̸̛̭͗͐͝y̷̟͚̿̓̋̒͆͋ó̴̟͙̬̹̣͖́͑u̴͕͇̞͇̖̔̋́̏͘͠ ̷̝̘̲̫̈͆̃̌̓ľ̶̲̤̟̭̄̀̃͊͘o̶̰͗͑̈̌̓t̷͉͕̮͚̐͐ ̶̧̙͓̒͛͋̂̐w̷̬̳͙̾͂̽́͝ḭ̸̧̯̥̍́̊̈́͝l̵̜͇̯͠l̷̬̟̮͎̯͗̌ ̷̨̢̪̺̼̩̋̑͝b̸̼͗͆̆ͅe̸̱̲̯͉͐̔̽͋͝͠ ̵͓̪̖͎̃̅͝a̸̪͊̈b̸͈̀̎͝ḻ̸̟͚̘̂͒̍͝ẹ̸̔̊̈́̕͜ ̴͉̉r̴̭̲̺͙̒͠é̵͎m̵͈̾͐̀e̷̡̹̘̥̐̉m̶̗̕ͅb̵̧̡͍̠̩̉̿̍ę̷̨̪͎̮͖̋r̵̘̔͜ͅ ̷̧͇͕͖̂̆̓̂̍t̴̤̰͌ḧ̸͈̯͎́̐̊̒͠i̷̳̥̻̥̟͓̐͒́͝s̶̡̺͎̟̟͌ ̵̰̰̊̌ầ̵̧̡̨̦̤̟́̎́ń̸̗̬ỷ̵̰̬̃̅̄w̷͕̪͒͐̉́̀̄ȧ̵̯̘̓͑̀̇͝y̷̩̩͖͓͊̔͐͑͝͠.̸̢̼͓̣͋̊̓̏ ̷͍̯̠͎͓̽̈́̊̎̈́̕A̴͎̟̠̳̳͛̿̏̈́̚l̷͚͇̠̒̆̀l̴͚̦͍̳͕̄͆̆͌ ̸͉̯̰̪͇̐̈́̏̓̚I̶̯͕̲̓͋͒̕ ̵̫͉̳̳́̅͘n̴̖̮̑̈̀̔͝e̸̛̩̅ê̷͔͎̽̋̋̌ḏ̵͗́̎̀̈́ ̵̡͍̬̓̾i̶̼̺̯͔̟̒̓̃͂̇͐s̴̼̟̲̥͉̒̾̉ ̴̘̺̅̍͘f̵̣̆̐̍͊͝͠õ̴͙͌̓̿r̵͉̦͍̘̕ ̶̡͙͚͚̉͐͛̈́̍̕y̶̛̥̪̺̔̒ͅo̴̠̰̭͈̩͎̓͆u̴̗̹̅͗̐͐͊̀ ̶̛̜͇̠͋͝l̴̨̊̂̃ǫ̵͒͜t̷̲͙̪͕̞̳́̄ ̷̲̲̠̌͋͒̃̀͜t̶̨̗̘̑o̸̟̫͐̽̓̈́̑̚͜ ̶̯͚̉͊̉̄b̴̗͆͋̾̔͆e̶͉̺̭͝h̴̨̝̮͈̯͆͂̀̃ạ̷̤̮̘̜̙́̉̿̋̐͊v̷̘̔̂́̒e̵̢̤̫͓̻̓͛̾͛̓ ̶͖̏͗͋̿̒͘a̷̹̠̠̦̣̓͐̆͊͗͠n̶̛̬ḋ̸̫͇̱̐́͊ ̶̮̑͛͝d̷̪̯̻̮̙̋ò̸̡͙̻̪̎̀͒̿ ̷̱̪̀̎̿̄͆͒ā̸̼̳̭̝͝s̵̳̗̒͜͠ ̴̞̬̺̝̰̀̆Î̵͍̭̜̤̪̆̈́̕ ̸̘͕̜̯̭̞̀͊̕s̴̡̙̤̀̌̕͘̕͝ͅǎ̶̠̼͔̠̳y̶̔́̎̿͜ ̸̹̦͕̠̫̣̐̈́̋̆ą̶̬̰̐͛̚n̴̠̐̃͘ḑ̶̡̟̘̻̇̂ ̵̡͍͉̻̌̾͗̾̅I̵͖̼̦͌̉̉̾'̴̧̔̉̿l̸̳̥̳̃l̵͚̙̍̿ ̷̢̛̩̘͉̈̍̆̑͜y̵̧̻̫̱̲͒͋͐ͅò̵̞͍̙̦̰̊̊͜û̷̼͕̝͔̑͗̂͘͝ ̶̧̖̆g̶̥̣̤̽͒̔̆̐o̶̪̝̳͉͓͇̒͠ ̵̡̩̰̗͕͗͐́͑͂͘ẅ̸̖́͛̈͂̕ḥ̷̱̅̈͠ë̸̙́̓̀͒n̸̨̩̓̎ ̸̯͇̳͈̗̈́̅ͅI̶̝̪̮̦̔͒̿̈́ ̷̣͍͕̠̥̄̄h̴̥̥͈̯̪͐̀̅̋͝ạ̸͚̹̳͈̋̀v̵̮̖̜̱̇̓̅̈́̆̿͜e̶̹͆̔͆͛͘ ̶̧̛͚̪̳͖̯̍͑̐͊f̶̘͉͗͠ͅḯ̶͇n̴͖͍̜̻͐͌̉̊̉̕ï̷̗͜s̵͉͉͈̋̍͛h̴̨͔̳͚̉̎̅͗̾e̸̘̐͂̽̈́͂̕d̷̫̝̬͑͂.̵͖͎͓̍"̶̪̖̱͌̆͜_

_̶͕̭͈̄̄͛̈́̕"L-like w-what?" Chloe squeaked._

_The man walked over to her and knelt down before here. He took both of her hands gently. It took everything Chloe had to not try and pull back her hands._

_. ̸͕͍̿̀͗̚"̶̳͍̳͔͗I̵̞̗̺̻͔͒͑̐̈̀͘'̶̢̠̦͚̫̦̾̒̉̑m̵͍̺̜͖̺̈ ̶̛̙̼̲͊̽̌̅ģ̸̣̻͗ḻ̵̡̹̓̑ả̷̪͙̩͈̠̥͑̂d̸̻̑̿͠ ̸̨̫͍̖͕̩̍̃y̶̢͖̟̪͍̟͝ǫ̵̮̠͇̦̋͜ü̴̮̟̖̲̳̣ ̵͓͔̥͔͌͊̄̈́̅a̴͇̳̮͍͋̎͠s̵͙̩̗̿͐̕͜͝͠͝ͅk̴̡̆e̶̻̅̍͐̃̽d̶̝̋̚̕,̸̟͍̜͇̹̪̉ ̷̨͙̮̦̻̈̑̇̍̏̅m̴̫̘̙̳͔̀̈́͋̇͘y̵̭̖̗̗͍̬̏͑͗ ̶͍̫̤̙͊̔̂̄͝ͅd̵̫̤̥̱̏͐́̈́͑̀e̸͔̣̖͖͂̆̌̂̐̚ͅa̴̦̳͂̕r̶̨͇͎͔̣̓̑̃͋̾̅.̶̲̹̬̹̗̺̀̿͗͘ ̴̢̩̈́͆I̴̡̞̘̩̅̃͊̉̊͝ ̶̦͈̺̝͉́͆̌̆ͅḍ̸͎̱͐̽̿͆̌̑o̴̳͆̓̒͛͛͝n̶͎̽̿͂'̵̡̢̲͎̯̘͐̐̈́͋̚t̴̛͔́͛͂̍̓ ̷̧̽͑m̴̨͑̊͗̕͠e̵̪̋́ä̴̧͉̺̦̪́̎̓̈́́̕ͅņ̷̢̬͇̟͌̈ ̶̖̹͋͂̌͒ḩ̵̢̝͚̿̀̿̒͘͝a̵͕͂̿́͘͝r̶̺̙̥͙̝̦̈́̓̄͒̄m̸̨͈͎̃̍͂ ̷̻̟͌̾͒̓̚y̵͕̲̤̽͒̀̾͋̕õ̷̯̮̎͜u̸͖͚̻͇͙͍͆̚ ̸̟̲́̐̕a̶͙͍͚̟̙̓ͅṇ̵͐ḋ̴̡̖̂̅̎̒ ̷̯͈̺͛̌̓̓I̵̡̺̙̻͐͂͠ ̵̱̣͈̀͐̀̉̏̀͜ͅͅd̵̰̰̠͚͇̻͗̈͂͘ò̵͔̲̠̱͍̎̇n̴͈͆͌͝͝'̵́͛̈̕͜t̷̻͒̃́ ̴̞͋w̵̨̱̩̮̏̈̑͜ä̷̛̦̻̣̰̅͐̚ṇ̵̝͕̠͚͑̔̕t̷̠̘̫̋̍̔̾ͅ ̴̨̗́̀̉̿t̶̺̼͋͒o̸̳̣̖̥̊͑̿͘͝ ̶̧̡͍̤͉̘̈́̆̀͝ḩ̴̫̙͂u̴͎͙̩̠̦̿̽r̶̼̉̅t̸̡͇͖̋̎́͝ ̷̤͆͛̾̒a̶̝͓͓̥͂̀̕͘͝n̵̢͎̻̪̭̏̍̃̒̊̈y̴̠̐̋̍ ̴̜̮̘͚̿̀̓ȍ̴̧̘͈̲̮̤͂̽͛̓̿f̸̝̳͂̀̐̊͗͠ ̵͖̾̅̃ý̵̖̘͈̺͗̋ǫ̶̬̹͉̬̾́u̶͉͎̰̍͂,̵̠̜̙̱̓̀̚ ̴̢̢͍͙̼̌ë̷͙̲́͠͝s̵̻̩̮̟̃́͂͜ͅp̴̢̟̱̃͑e̸̪͚̯̔̏̎̄͝ć̴̪̼̱̃̅͘̚i̶̩̦̘̱̯̋̓͌̔̏͜ą̵̩̼̝͍͌͋l̴̙̩͂̑̃ļ̸͖͛̕͝y̷͙̭̹̩͠ ̴͕͙̞̣̮̐͑̑͆̕͜o̸͔̤͙͉̽̀͛ņ̸̛̮̜͚̒̅̏̂̚ ̵̼͂a̷̲͎̭̺̽̈̏̆̒ ̷̧̧̫̙͆̑̓͝d̶̨̂͐̓̽a̴̡͑̃̋ŷ̶̨͕͂ ̴͗͜ļ̵͖̣̘̬̀̈́̋i̴͓͔̇͆͊ǩ̵̝̜̹̂̏̐̉ͅe̶͙̠̲̋̀ ̵̧̪̫̭̗͖͐͐̆t̵̟̺̳́̌̂̿ͅö̷͓̒͌̐͜d̶͎̗̪͓̖̜͐̀ä̵̙͙͉̜͚́͋̇y̵̘̻̗̼͛̋.̴̖͙́̃ ̸̭͛̍̄̆͘Ī̷̧̜̦̭̞́ ̶̘̝̇́͛̀́͋ǰ̷̢̝̟̕u̴̹̣̲͒͜s̴̨̓ṫ̶̟͇̄̎̒͌ ̴̜͈̈́n̴̢͈̺̂͗̈́̑͘e̸̖͇̰̣̋è̶̥d̶̛̳̖̘͓̞̤̓̾̍͌ ̷̡̳͇̱̎̕̚͜a̴̛̤̾̾̑̚ͅ ̸̝̱̖̯̝͇̃̀̉l̷͎̩͍͉̂́i̵͉̜̮̒t̶̤̘̅̇̀̋͊̀t̴̢͔͐̈́ͅľ̴̡̢̦͖ě̸͚̳ ̵̥̭̦̇̒b̷̮͕̄̅̋l̸̞̦̱̞̜̭̊͌o̷̧̟̹̮̽̇o̶̻͖̭͛͂̾͜d̵̡͚̻͍̣̯̎͠ ̵̺͔͍̙͙̈s̵͈̪̀̆͗͋a̷̻̗͙̍̓m̸͓͉͚͛̆́̎̚͝p̶̛̬ͅl̴͇͑̌̈́ȩ̶̣̗̺͖̯̎̉ ̷̺̖̩̔̏̈́̇f̶̢̡̔̎̍́̇r̵̛̬͍͒̇̊̀ò̴̧̬̜͛̏̀͘͠m̴̧̩̗̲͈̂͛͠ ̴̡͉̤͌̓a̶̗̱͋̏̍̄̑l̶̡̧͈͔̽̋̀͆ͅl̶̨͍̱̪̺̽̃ ̶̢̡̢̰̞̖̄̃̎̈́ǫ̷̡̞͎̳̂̄̾f̴̱̫̥͖̮͈͌̾̀̀ ̸̗̥̻̦̬͐̃̚͜y̸̢̖̫͋̊̀͌̌̅ơ̴̡̧̤̮͙u̷̲̦͙̲͔̺͒͛͛̓ ̶̡̡͔̪̱͗̈́̔̉̌͝ẗ̸͚̳́͒̏̎̄ḩ̶̝̎̂ḙ̷̞̱͕̋̍̐n̶͙̋̑ ̵͇̤͇̜͚͑̔͒̑y̶̤̜̤̼̣̽̀͋͋̍͝ò̵͉̞̬̙̲̘͑̀̈͗̀ṳ̵̬͚̤̊ ̷̨͆͒̓̚͝a̷̭̪͆̎̕͝͝͝r̸͉͋̆̆͊e̷͓̾ ̸̹̮͛f̸̰̝̝̲͚̙̊͘r̵̢̗̺͊̎̕e̸̩̘͚̝̎ě̶̢͙̺̚ ̷̤̲̦͉̤͋̾t̸̼̞́̋͂́ó̵͇̘̪̹̅̏͜ ̵͇̲̎̅̇̀̍g̸̖͎͍̤̈́̎̀ô̵͕.̶͕͇̆̎"̶̲̫̀̈́_

_"Get away from her you monster!" Brandon yelled._

_He went in between Chloe and the man and took the blonde over the the wall, placing his arms in front of her like he was protecting her from the man before them. The man rose from his crouched position, scowling as he did. Really, there this could've gone a lot more easier if they didn't defy him and just complied with his simple wishes._

_̷̯͔̿̌̐̉̉̚"̸̭͈̲͐̃L̵̢̟̞̩̑͊̕i̵̬̥̣͉͂͜s̵̜̜̰͎̙̓͗͜ṭ̵̙͔̻͎̗̽é̵̼ń̴̨̼̿!̵̡͔͒ ̶̯͛́̾Ḯ̵͙̂̽̑̌͠ ̴̩͇̻̰̹̎̾d̴͉̍̀̆̓o̷̰̿ň̸̡͇̮̌͑̕͠'̵̨̯̖̠̞̹͋̕͝t̵̳̪̓̎̌̍͜ ̵̼͌͂̀̓ę̷̲̣͐̈́͗́̓͌x̷̧̰̜̥͂p̸̬̣̦͇̿̚ḙ̴͚̱̫̂͋͗͗̓͊c̶͎̜͎̰̻̲̔̊̇̎͋t̷̺͗̏̿̑ ̷̙̙̄y̵͕̭̝̜̻͛͗̔̋ȏ̸̠͕̠̐̓̚u̷̱͇͈͈̩̦̎̆̾͊ ̵͍̩̿̄̒̅̋̓l̴̨̩̙̥̏ǫ̶͇̠̫̤́͂͝ť̵̛̙̓͠ ̴̭͇̝̜̆̄t̷̰̀̒̇̋̉ǫ̶̧͌̿ ̵̪͔̳̺̹̈́͒̍̑ṳ̶̮̭͕̈́ͅn̴̬̳͚̏͠d̴͔̥͒͘͝e̷̞̻̊͒r̶̫̩̳̝̋̂͊̍s̴̡̄́̋t̷̲̱̮̣̙̽̈́ã̶̰̲̩̞n̵̛̤̘̱̱͂̏̊̓̕ͅd̶͈̬̾̐ ̴̢̽͂̎͝b̷̛̠̱̒̑̒̀ͅu̵̱͔̦̎͌t̶̗̣̖̙͕̉̾́́ͅ ̵̡̳͙̱̦̍̃̒͘͠Ï̷̖͉̜̜̩͆'̵̟̓̎̿͆̅̕m̷̭̅͛͋͐̔̕ ̴̞̼̅̆̆̓ḏ̸͖̩͕̑̀͂͐̏͝ō̸̯͇̳̖̥̠̐̉̚i̷͙̲͍͓̘̍̐͋̚͝n̵͇͋̎̿g̶̢̢͔̳̭̮͋͑̈́̒͘ ̴͕̂̔͘͜t̵̳͖̎͛̓͜ḧ̷̪̟̗͕̫̝́̂̈́͐͝ĩ̶̦͙͓̮̼̩̽s̷̢̼̋̇ ̶͚͛̿̓͌̎f̷̧̞͕̭͕͗́͒̄́͘ǒ̸̘̦r̷̯̾́͋͛͆̽ ̶͙́̓͝ḥ̷̰͎̘͓̊͆ị̸̽̎̏̅̕̕m̴͚̥̾̈́̈́.̵̧̭̮̜̤́̇ ̵̨͓̹̋͌̈̒͠Ị̴̛͇͐ ̷̢̨̻͕̳̖̊͆̏͛͒͌j̷̯̓̂͘u̸̗͋s̶̩̞̻̥̰̄̉̉ț̶̱̘̹̻̬̈ ̶͎͓̹͔̝̆̆̾̍͒n̸̨̼̤̯̂̚e̶͚̯͈̱̦͎̋͂e̶̗͓̮̓͑̈́͂̚d̶̨́͗ ̸̻̽a̴̰̩̩̤̖͚̔̓͗̋͝ ̵̰͇̻͈̳͝l̴̨̯̩̾̊͂i̸̧̱̩̝̺̪͌̒̀t̶͙̼̻́́̚͠t̶͒̐͜l̸̟̱̤̟͍͊͒̍̿ḛ̵̼͒̋̉̅̑̏ ̴̙̮̙͖̮͊̇ḇ̶̪̎̀l̵͇̓͆ơ̸̗̬͂̈̈́ò̴̟͗ḑ̵͚̔̽̈ ̸̝̱̞̦̱̈́s̶̛͉̫̎͌͝ą̷̨̪̻͒͑m̷̱͔̚p̷͖̌͂l̷̹̭̭͑̔e̸̬̱͆̽̏͘͜͝ͅ ̸̮̫͕̞́̀͆͆̍̾͜f̸̖͊͆͐͠r̴̫̞̙̅̀̍̃ơ̵̪̭̲̊̂͜ḿ̵͍̆̇̉̑͝ ̸̜͉͖̑̉̒a̴̢̺̮̳̠̓̚̕̚l̷̦̜̱̫̐l̴͍̼̺̗̑͌̄̅͝ ̷͔̲͎͍͇̀̂͗̕͜o̷̰͈̾̄́̓͝f̸̧̛͇̜̰͓͈̊ ̷̜͓̉ỳ̵̤̦̰̞͊͆͜͝ỏ̸͖̹͔̤̟̃̽͗͑ụ̵̾͑̑̃̀̕ ̷̮̭́̃͒̄̚͝į̸̘͇̈́͒͜͠ͅn̸̖̲͊ ̸͔̄̋̐̊o̴͍̥̪̓̇͑̈́̈̉r̵̭͖̭̚d̸̢̔̊̍̂̏͝e̵̮̲͇̗͊r̵̳͇̹̬̝̺͆̿͛͑̂͑ ̷̥͚̜̦͌̽t̵̩͔̂̂͝o̷̰͇̞̖̖͊́̍ ̸̢̨͔͔̦̦͛́͝ȧ̴͔̏͋͆̋l̵̺̯̪̗͌͑̐͗̈́ĺ̶̩̰̈́̒̂̚ö̷̡̨̧̱̳̙́͑͠w̴͈͖͗ ̶̺̪̻͔̉h̸̠̆͋͑̈̋į̸̼̇m̴͕̯̹̯̂͋͋́͝ ̷̞̓̒̆͘t̷̡̡̝̯̓̀̋͛͘͝ǒ̵̰̫̖͗͌͝͝ ̶͔̜͎̆̃͘l̵̼̥̞̉̽̿̀̓ĭ̴̛̳̺͓̩v̷͉͔͙̲̺̋͌̊̏ẻ̴̝̿.̷̡̾͝"̵̙̞̤́͑̽̕_

_"Who?" Frederick inquired._

_"Fred, don't speak!" Gerald told him._

_The man smiled sadly. He didn't think one of them would want to understand him, especially after he had kidnapped them. But, there was no alternative. All he needed was a ̴͚̖́̔̑̊́̉̿̔͗͋͐͠ͅb̶̨̨̨̛̤̬͕̻̻͖̗͖̈͛̀̿̑̐͛̓͝ḽ̷̫͕̜͍̞͍͖͋́͆̌̋̈̊͝͝ǫ̴̡̣͇̹͕̲̪͈̈́̈̓́͆̈̄ǫ̷͇̘͋̆̅͒̾͆̂͐̎̌̈́͝͝d̴̡̢̝̩̖̣̩̜̼͙̱̺̻͔̎̊̕ sample and he would let them go. He didn't want to harm them. Was it too much to ask for one simple thing that would only take a few seconds. It would be quick and somewhat painless._

_̶̢̼̘̰͓̻͐̊͗̆̔̓̅͠"̸͈̟̓̔͛̓̊̑͝Ị̸̢̧̣͙͍̮͐̈́̒ť̵͇̦̝̜̽̍̑͆̇̾͜͝ ̵̦̭̜͆͛̋̑̏̎ḏ̸͖̯̉̅o̷̦̯̬̳̽ḙ̵̢̰͖̬̲̣̈̀̀̂̿͊͑̓̾s̶̛̭̘͍͈͙̝̳͋̃̿̌̾ͅn̸̨̡̞̗̯͖̙̝̺͂̾͆̿'̶̨̖͖͉͒̾̎͂͝t̴̬̊̿̓ͅ ̷͎̹̻͇̣́͆̾́̾̑͘͝ͅm̷̧̞̙̣̻̩̹̔͑a̷͕̰͔̍̀͋́͂̎t̸̢̫̻̬̙̥̚ṭ̷̡̺͇̱͕̮̀̃̏́̇̚ḙ̴̮̻̮͚̳̠̾͆̓̃̊̓̾͊͝r̶̢̨̠͍̥̲̀̍̂̉̓͐͗.̶͖̺̓̿͐̑͂͊̽̄ ̶̢̜͎̯̯̺̫̭̒͐͂͗Ī̸̙̄͠'̸̡̗͈͈͊͌̅͆̅͠͝ͅm̶͙̟͖̓̋̒͊͘͠ ̷̢̡̛̩̼͈̼̣̮̐͝s̸̭̟͊̉o̶͕͍̳̮̞͔̱̖͑̿r̷̳̥̈́̅͊̃ŕ̸̢̛̗͖̩͊͜͠y̴̺̖̆͆̈́̀̊̾͒͝ ̸̼͊̔̊b̷̛͈̘͚͉̫͖̤͐͋͂̍͝u̵̥̘̠̥̬̱̮͊͋̑̽͒͠͝ţ̷̝̳͚͕̝̼̋̓̐̃̕ ̸̧̙̼̦͎̲͓͋́̑̍̀̀̒̃͋ͅt̵̬͙̦͎͍̳̗̐̋̒h̴̨̳̣͚̹͍̘͛̃̍͛e̴̤͒͂̈́͗́͂̈́ ̴̨̫̝̙̪̗̠̞͌͐̈́̈́̐f̷̛̣̭̬̯͖͖̈̓̆̀̔̾̽͜ę̷̠̠̯̪̍̏̓̚ẁ̷̢̩̺̠̥̭̞̹͇̈́͠ ̸̢̡̨͇̰̻́͜p̶̧̛̫͇̥̐̔͆͌͜͠è̷̢̛̳͚͍̗̻̹̫̄̎̔̿o̸̦͖͓͎̽͒́̄p̶̡̟̬͎̖̘̅̽̔͒̐͝ḻ̸̨͕̣͍̙̣͇͂͒̑̍̈̾͜͝ė̶̘̌̍̈ ̶̩̟̗̲̙̼̤̖̒͛̇̕͜͝w̶̢̠̬̩̖̽̀̾̽̀̒̽͛h̸͉̫̭̼̣̳̻͙̅͌̋͊͊̅ǫ̵̡̛̛̮̫͔̺̥͊̓̔ ̵͈͎̈́͊̐̒ḳ̷͚̓̏̈́͌̈́n̷̛͔̠̩͆̉͂̑̈́̓͐͝o̷̳̼̭̻̍͆̾̑̀ẁ̶͍̬͖̖̩͕̙̰̉͒͐̃͝ ̵̧̛̮͓͕̠̬̼͖͚̔̃͛a̸͎̝͚͇̘̩͍̬̻͂̈́̚b̶̢͉̲͖̦͈̥͉͚͑̈̒ơ̶̧̨̢̬̙̹̩̣̮̈́͊̑̊̅̅ư̴͈͖̤̹̭̼̤̠̋͊͊͌͑̈́̽͂ͅt̷̨̧̩̲̜̤͔̯̿̈́͂̀̕̕͝ͅ ̶̦̿͑̎̊̎̀̓̂̚h̷̺̯͈̱̝̻̳̾̉͊̏́ḯ̸͔̰̱̠̙̤̮̟͝s̷̭̙͔̪̥̀͊̃̈̋̒ͅ ̴͈̰̦̩̓͜c̸͙̟̄̓̏̽o̵̞͎͒ǹ̷̯̯͇͇̐̐̏̈́̅͜ḑ̷̧̨̛͓̩̣̩̞̼̑̾̎̊̚͝i̵̘̣͕̹̊̉̐̂̽́͜ͅṱ̵͈̤̜͇͂͜͜ͅi̴̢̡͓̿̀̀̈o̸̼͈̫̥͔̳̦̰͙͐͐͛̍̆̍͋̃̚ņ̵̭͚̘͔̺̗̫̈́̊̀̋ ̸͓͍̜͓̎̀t̶̡̗̗̪͍͙̾̽̋̚h̸̨̞͔̫̭̺̬͉͒̅͒̽̀ȅ̸͔̦̰̣͍̩̣̀̐ͅ ̷̢̰̮̭̪̞̮̺̈̄͋b̴̢̖͉̖̲̩̆̇͋̈̈́͝ͅe̷͕͍̞̓̓̈́̑̈̽̊t̴̲̮͉̱́͑ț̵̔͑̐e̶̬̱͈͉͐̎̓̋̈́͊͛͘͜͠ṟ̶̞̜͈̭̹̰͖͙͗̈́̃̑̂͛̽̊.̷̢̭̅̈́̀̏̂ ̶̺͗͐͊̆I̴͙̩̳͕͕̬͙̳̻͛̈'̶̛̹͛̈́̇̑̓̍̕v̸̨̟̲̞̯̣̖̤͌ͅe̶̗̝͎̞͔̳̹̊̈́́͗̃̓̚̚ ̷̟̈́a̶̧̖̠͌͒̊̈́͗̈́̚l̷͙̊r̴̢͎̈̋͂̒ȩ̸̠̮̹̬͠ͅa̶̛̻͍̍̾͊̃̾ḏ̶̠͓̭̟̳͆̎ŷ̸̛̤̹̙̘̥̭͎͋͌̈́̑͜͜ ̴̧̰̗̯̱͓̱̀̉͐͛̒͠͝l̶̨̛̲͕̜̟̭̐̓̓̈̽̆̿̕õ̷̹͍͙̆͋͌͒͑̉͐̚s̵̟̱̜͉̣̰̜͗́̍̆̔͘͜t̷̺̩̤̼̯̽̓̉ ̶̫̪͎̲͔͎̤̗̍̍͘͝m̷̫͇̠̳̪̞͓̒̐͋̈̄̓͒̉̕y̷͇̘̠͔̿̿̔̌̀́͒̅͝ ̶̤̻͇̫̖̖̫͑̾͒͛̿̒͒̂̌W̸̢̪̩̳̝̭̆ḭ̷̟̹̘̥̅̅̚f̴͙̪̳̓̓ȅ̸̢̫̼͖̪͕͇̬͌̚ ̸͔̫͈̑̓̀̌̈̌̿̕͝ä̸̘̫̟͗̓̀̃͑͂ṇ̴͖̫̫̦̟̱͕̃̏ͅḑ̷̩̩̠̹̌͆̅̀̓̆́͗͝ͅ ̵̱̲̤̭͍̪̉͊͠͝m̷̠̮̞͕͙͕̻͎̠̉̑̆̄ẙ̴͍̦̔̑͠ ̴̤̩̘̻͕̔̋̿̂͌̅̾͜͝͝è̵̙̲̟̰̤́͂̽̈́̍̋ļ̴͓͉͕̞͕͈̳̯́͑d̶̘̟̤͉̣̏͊͗̈̉̄̒̍͜͜͝ȩ̷̦̱̲͑̐̾̈́̐͝s̸͙̋̈̈́̌͛͛̄t̸̳̠̞̬̼̜̏̊͒̒͒̀ ̵͓̯̫̞̽͑̽͌̉̚i̴͓͙͒́̄͌͠s̷͍̘͓͕̝̉̈̌̓̽̚̕ ̴̨̦̲̑̾̈́̈́͝m̴͉̜͇̪͒i̵̫̮̗̩͑̊̅̀͋ͅs̶̢͉̟̭̠͖͐̎̈́̏͂̚̚͠ͅs̸̗̦͍̾̉́̄ĩ̵̖̥͉̒͊̈́̊ń̴̛̫̣͔̥̤̀̅͒̌̾̕ģ̸̡͙̾͒̓̊͛̑̕.̵̨̢̹̤̗̼̞̦̫̅͑͋͘ ̶̣͍̹̱̒̀̔Ḯ̸͔̭̹͍̟̥͗́̆̀̌̃̋̕ͅ ̸̠̱̭͉̘̭̜͋̊͛͗̄́̚͜͝ͅc̵̨̏̉̈͑͒͆͐͘͠a̵̭͔̯̯̘͚̝̱̾̾̆n̸̩͍̠͑̽ͅ'̵̱͎̻̭͉̗̫̓͒̄͌̈͠t̸̢̧͈̹̮̞̣̅̀̈́̈ͅ ̴̦̲̣̮̘̮̘̳̆͊̎̈́̎͌̎̽͠l̵̟̦͉̑̀̿͜͝͠͝ò̸̧̹̬͍̜̼͔̽́̾ő̴̠̮̀̃s̴̩̖̻̦͓̀́̇͑e̵̛̘͉͉͚͑͑̋̈́̒͝ ̶͎̈́̿͂͐̚͠h̸̟̣͛̑͊̐̓͗̿́ī̴͕̟̤͖̹̜̟̬̥͆̐̎m̴̢̧̡̢̡̛̩̱̬̆͂̃́̈́̉͜.̴͕̤̺̜̪̺̦͒̒ ̶̡̺̭̫̻͚̐̔I̵̡̲̺̤̟͋͠ ̷̡̝͈̾̒ͅj̷̢̢͈̻̜̆͑̽͂́̇u̴̧͍͕̹̖̲̭͖̿͊ͅs̷̜̞̠̲͠t̶̥͕̜͂ ̷̘̓c̸̨̪͔̺͎͚̭͕̽̉̈́̀͋̚ą̷̺̱̗́̉n̴̡̪͚̹̲̖̜͉̆̉́̇ͅ'̸͖̘̠͍̣̥̑̿̾̎̃̂͘ͅţ̴͚̘̯̊͑̒̅̍̍̊͘͝!̵͇͙̭̋"̸̟̮̘̭̂̿_

_"Well, if that's all you need..." Felix said._

_Felix walked around Gerald and over to the man. Before any of them could react Felix helped the man stand. He didn't take his eyes of the child before him. Despite the skin tone and the colour of his eyes, Felix reminded him of somebody close to his heart. Somebody who had missing for about a year now._

_̷̮͎̩̊̓̐̎̾̓"̷̛͉̟̦̺͘Y̴̫͎̜̑̀̅̒͘ő̶̥̰̣̠̑͜u̸̹̪̲͚̿̂̍̈͌́͌̐́ ̴̢͎̩̣̀l̴̛͇̻͈͕̳̜̭̙̎̋̅̅̎͆͗ọ̶͓̎̄͑̓́̄o̶̳̯̩̼͚̳̍k̵̲̹͇͓̹̜͇̞̣͛̆̆ ̷̝̳̪͆̉̔͛̈̀̅̃j̴̨̛͇̺̘̝͕̆͋̃̂͘͝͝ų̴̞̺̮̗̙͇͌͘͠ͅs̵̠̊͆̾̆͘t̶̨̩̼͍͓̼͆͘ͅ ̸̡̯̯̮͚͔̦͉͂̆́͒͝ļ̸͖̹̪̐ì̷͚k̷̢͕͔͔͚͈͒̒́e̷͕͎͒̋͌̇͐ ̵̡̳̱̣̜̂h̴͕̰̲̍̿͆̀̈́͝͝ì̷̡͍͝m̴̛͎̘̠̯͚̙̝̆̌̄̿͆̀.̸̧̲͇̩̜̿̂͊̎̈̏͋͌͝ͅ ̵̙͒̍̕͠Ą̴͇̪̻̼͖̹̱̅̈̏̃̕͝ͅľ̶̛͖̭͚̬͂̐͛̈̇̏m̴͇̟͍͔̫̪̘͇̙̈́͊̌́̈̽̃͘͝o̷͈̞̟̞̤̗̠̟͌̎̈̓̉͝s̷̫͍̿̈́̅͐̇̇͠t̸̛͓̯͓̥͚͓͂͐̍̌̊͆̆.̸̬̟͋͝"̸̢̧̹̋̌̑̾̑͋͑̕͘_

_He had to force himself to look away. He had to be strong now, there no point crying about it. Instead he walked over to the box and brought out a sharp object and a vial. He walked back to Felix._

_"NO!" Gerald yelled._

_He prevented him from getting close to Felix. He pushed the redhead back, perhaps a little bit hard then he intended to, and reached out to grab the knife. The man dropped the vial and try to wrestle back the knife from the kid. His mind was racing. Just what was this kid trying to do?_

_Gerald tried to pull the knife back and... the man had left a nasty cut on his face. He was motionless for a second. Hs eyes drifted to the knife that was covered in blood and the man before, in return the man looked horrified with what he had done. Gerald fell backwards and put his hand in front of his face. The rest of the children crowed around him and they had started panicking. The cut went from the top of his right brow to left side of his nose, it had lined up to the middle of his left eye._

_"̵̗̤̬̗͓̓͆̀͋̓̂̂͆I̶̳͈͓͂̀-̸͍̜̬̩͒͆́̈̄Ḯ̷̡̨͍̩͇̩̮͓̈́̿̌̓̀'̵̛̛̝͉̤͍̮̞̂͊̽̐͛m̵̛̱̟̦͙͈̬͂̀ ̸̢̱̫͙̭̔͝s̸̛̞͚̞͌̑͛̾o̶̞̣̙̟͐̊̏̽͛͗̂͘r̸̲̯̫̬̳̠̘̘̀͒̇̇̆̒r̶̡͓͉̦̪̦͊̃͒̈̅̿̋͜y̸͖̥̟̼̑̌͝.̸̛̣̤̣̹͌̃ ̸̧̪̦͍̣̻͇̄͌̂̾̾̄͝I̷̧̡͙͓̠̜̦̤͐͌̔̚͝-̸̜̀̆̃ ̷̨͓̲̰̩̂̎͊̕͘̚͘͝I̵̞͙̼̞͇͑̀͒͗̌̚ ̶̧̥͔̑͐́d̶̡̧̤̫̩̩͔̟͋į̴̳͚̦̬̖̮͈̍̌̀̀̌̀̍d̷͙̭̔́̋͂͘̕n̸̡̼̤̱̩͔̩̈́̿̈̈́͂̎̈́'̸̛̺͓͉̎̂̓͒̈͠͝ṯ̶͒̃̍̀͝ ̶̛̝̺͔̟̉̂̆̋̀̀͠m̶̬͇̺̬̯͚̂͒͊̾̈̿͘ͅe̷͓̼͚̹͒̾́ầ̶͈̈́̉̐̏ǹ̵͙̜̈̈́͗̅ ̶̭̺́ẗ̷͕̬͔̰͕̟̗́̄̀͌̉̀̉͜͝ó̶̺̈́͋͊̓̕̕.̸͉̣̠̺̀"̵͍̩̬̝͙̎̋̎͊̐_

_"You monster!" Brandon yelled._

_"Gerry! Gerry! Can you hear me?" Fredrick asked._

_He got not response from the blonde. He was breathing heavily. Chloe, who had calmed down slightly, had ripped part of her dress and pressed it against Gerald's wound. It didn't do much but what she needed right now was one of the boys to get the supplies out of the first aid kit in order to prevent further bloodless._

_"Frederick, get me the first aid kit. Quickly!" She commanded._

_The man picked up the knife from the ground. He was looking at them coldly. This shouldn't not have happened. They should've listen to him. Honestly, it would've only took a moment and they would be free to go. But, one of them had to try and be a hero. Now though... he didn't have a choice! He watched as Fred made his way over to the box on the table. Before the brunette could open it the man grab him and forced him to turned around. Frederick tried to struggle but the man just tightened his grip._

_"LET ME GO!" The boy yelled._

_̷̝̱͙͈͇̽͑̌́́͜"̸̥̝̗̗̘̎ͅͅĮ̶͉̫̪̱̼͔͉̝̀͆̃̒̔̿͐͝'̸̢̭͈̪͚̬͊̅̃̐̄̈̐̚m̸͙̱̩̥͙̮͆͒̑͌͊ ̶̮͆̕̕͠s̶̢̻̙̗̫̰͝o̶͔̹̬̣̫̒͆ř̷̛͖͈̬̄̎͌͛r̸̢̗̼͖̩͚̈́͜y̶̛̯̍̈́͊.̴̡͇̤̖̦͍̭̰̈́̀"̵̢̛̛͕̬̲̾͑̓̕̕_

_The last thing Frederick remembered was the knife going near his neck._


	15. Cause for concern

Down the rabbit hole  
Chapter 14: Cause for concern.

* * *

If there was one thing everybody knew about Gavin Johnson its that he never came to work early. Sure, there was that one time a few months ago when the animatronics had been tampered with but after that he always came in just before the Pizzeria opened. Everybody knew about his other commitments, they had seen the man's children roaming around the Pizzeria a few times, so they knew that if boss didn't show up before opening time it was probably because he was taking care of children.

So, it came to a surprise to everybody that man had turned up one hour early. For once he was in good spirits and he had a coffee in his hands. Either the world was ending or something good happened last night.

When he entered the Pizzeria Gavin was met with a loud screeching sound. He had to cover his ears with his hands as he made his way to the main party room. On the stage he saw the animatronics already activated for the day. However, it was Freddy who was screeching on the stage, Bonnie and Chica were watching on helpless as the mechanic tried to shut Freddy down. From the corner of his eye he notices Foxy peering out of Pirate's cove before heading back inside.

Eventually, the man was able to shut down Freddy. Gavin felt it safe enough to lower his hands.

"What happened?" Gavin demanded.

"I'm not sure, sir. Everybody was working as normal when Freddy started screeching." The man replied. "It sounded like he was being attacked by something."

_Attacked?_ Gavin eyed the man sceptical as he moved Freddy of stage, he was being helped by Vincent and Fritz. He followed them out of the room as they were taking Freddy to the Parts and Service room. He didn't believe the mechanic. He didn't think it was possible to attack an animatronic. Sure, they had been neglected for number of years, but surely they would've been returned to the original condition thanks to repairs.

"Nothing seems out of place. Everything in proper working order. The AI system hasn't been tampered with." The man reported. "Perhaps it was just a minor glitch. Or, maybe the free roam mode was still active when he activated and he was just surprised to see us."

"Are you sure?" Gavin questioned.

"I'm positive, sir. Perhaps the night guards saw something last night." The ma replied.

"Or, maybe one of them did something last night." Gavin countered.

He heard somebody sighing behind him. He turned to the other man in the room. He saw Vincent glaring at him whilst Fritz was looking nervous, his black eyes kept shifting between his brother and him.

Before he could say anything, however, he was cut off by Vincent. "Your not seriously suggesting Mikey has been messing with the animatronics again, are you? Because I checked the security footage myself. He was nowhere near the stage all night and the only time he was close to them was when he was talking to them, and that had been of stage."

He didn't miss the look Fritz gave him.

"Its a merely a possibility, Vincent. Between the two of them Mr Schmidt is the only one who tampered with the animatronics." Gavin replied.

"Perhaps you should hear his side of the story before you make any judgements, Gavin." Vincent remarked as he crossed his arms.

"I'm sure there's no need for that." Fritz intervened. "Maybe Mr Johnson should just review the footage for himself."

"Why? Is there a problem, Brother?" Vincent questioned.

_What is the problem with those two? _

"You know I'm quite surprised, Vincent. You normally don't care about other people and just do your job. Yet, your defending somebody who barely know." Gavin said. "So, why do you care about what happens to him."

"I'm merely looking out for the young man and I will not have you slander his name whilst he is not here." Vincent responded. "Bring Michael in if you must but he will only tell you when I saw him do."

With that said Vincent left the room. Before he open the door he turned to face Gavin one more time.

"Oh, and believe me when I say this, Gavin. I know him better then you think I do." Vincent muttered to him before leaving the room.

Gavin tried not to flinch when the door slammed. Truthfully, he didn't think Vincent would've acted like that. He seemed protective of the night guard despite the fact that he had never met him before. Perhaps he just saw something in the kid that reminded him of himself.

"I-I'm sorry, Sir, for the way Vincent reacted. Sometimes he can be a bit defensive about certain people." Fritz apologised.

"I understand, Mr Smith. Though, I'm actually quite surprised. I haven't seen him react like that before and I didn't think he would do it for a stranger." Gavin replied.

"Well, we actually met him and Jeremy two days ago. Vincent seemed... surprised at seeing him." The brunette admitted. "I'm not sure why, of course. Maybe... they're old friends."

"Cant argue with that, I guess." Gavin replied.

It was still surprising but at least now he had an idea as why Vincent was defending Mr Schmidt. He didn't know if Vincent knew about what happened at the start of the week and quite frankly he didn't want to know. It wasn't that he was scared of the man but if he reacted to something so trivial as a theory then he didn't want to know what he thought about what happened earlier this week.

"Uh, Mr Johnson. If I'm not needed any more…"

"Your excused, Mr Smith." Gavin replied.

"Thank you, sir." Fritz said before leaving the room.

* * *

Vincent sighed as he enter the security office. He sat down in the chair but he wasn't focused on anything. He just needed to find somewhere to calm down before going back to work. He hadn't meant to response to Gavin like that but he refused to have Mikey's name slander like that for doing nothing.

He wasn't lying when he told Gavin he had reviewed the security footage. He did see Mikey talking to the animatronics, and he was nowhere near the stage. He even had a look at the footage from outside the Pizzeria, Mikey was doing his own thing whilst Jeremy was talking to somebody. A women. He couldn't see her face but she shouldn't have been at the Pizzeria after hours.

He didn't give a damn at the Pizzeria but he didn't want Mikey to get into trouble either. Maybe Gavin shouldn't look at the security footage because somehow he knew Mikey would get the blamed even though Jeremy was there to. True, he could've stopped the women from entering the building in the first place but perhaps there was another reason as to why the women was allowed to enter.

Besides he could tell that there was something troubling the night guard.

_ "So, why do you care about what happens to him."_

He cares because... he went through the same thing Mikey was going through now. Perhaps not in the same fashion as to what was happening right now but it was somewhat similar. He and his Father had argued all the time. His Father had been in the archelogy trade and he had a few business as well. Ideally he wanted both of his sons to follow in his footsteps but Vincent knew he wouldn't be able to handle it, unlike now that is. He was a just a kid being forced down a path that didn't suit any of his talents.

He never supported him. He was always favoured Fritz and when they brought home their grades he would praise Fritz when he showed his but when it was his turn his father scowled at him, all because he was doing well in a art class. His father told him that it wasn't a serious subject. He went on further, belittling him because he was day dreamer and he needed to grow up. His Mother didn't even stop him. She was just as cold hearted as his Father was. She told him that he was an embarrassment and needed to behave. Because of his Father work he and the rest of his so called family had attended a few gathering and dinner parties. He had accidently made a fool out of himself, it wasn't his fault that he had tripped and spilt his drink over the person talking to his parents.

And, quite frankly, he couldn't care about what his Mother thinks.

But, with Mikey, he could tell that the redhead was going through something familiar.

It was practically in his eyes. The lack of sleep, the bloodshot eyes. Even his skin tone was paler then unseal. It could be down to his job being too stressful for him and he was having a hard time coping. But, there again with what Fritz told him he knew that there was something else going on. When they talked the other day he told Mikey that no job was worth your life, especially when it came to working the night shift. But Mikey had insisted that he needed this job. Vincent didn't want to push him but when he asked Mikey to tell him why the redhead seemed afraid to answer him.

Just what was happening to him?

He looked defeated, and tired and fed up with certain people. He talked about Jeremy. How he kept pushing the idea that they were like Brothers and that he should come to him if he was having trouble. Mikey doubt their friendship. He told him that his missing some of his memories and that he didn't remember a thing about Jeremy. He just wished Jeremy would give him personal space and stopped trying to make him talk about a subject that he didn't want to talk about.

_He would give anything just to make him smile again. _

"There you are. I've been looking for you."

Vincent tried not to groan as he heard his Brother behind him. He already knew it was going to get a lecture of him. He didn't bother turning around. He just wanted to get this over and done with.

"Just what were you thinking? You could loose your job for talking to Mr Johnson like that." Fritz said.

Vincent rolled his eyes in response. Really? His Brother cared more about his job then the well-being of a night guard. Well, it wouldn't be the first time.

"Well? Are going to give me an answer or you doing to pretend that I don't exist. Again." Fritz questioned.

"No, I'm just counting up the minutes that you spend wasting your time talking to me." Vincent replied.

"Vincent, I'm being serious..."

"So am I. Gavin can fire me if he wants but I will not allow him to talk about Mikey like that." Vincent responded as he turned around to face his Brother. His tone of voice was dangerous and on edge. Vincent refused to back down. He would defend Mikey regardless of what Fritz or Gavin said. "You seen it for yourself, Fritz. The way he treated Mikey was disgusting, he didn't even allow him to explain himself."

He did have a point there. Mr Johnson had a lot a issues that needed to be dealt with. His thoughts turned to the start of the week. Before he knocked on Mr Johnson's door he had heard shouting coming from the inside. He knew he had no meetings so perhaps he was on the phone to somebody.

"I suppose your right." Fritz agreed. "Still though it not worth it to loose your job over it. There's no point going in blind if you don't have a plan in the first place."

"I don't intend to go it blind. But, you know how I feel when somebody gets treated unfairly." Vincent replied. "Especially, when it somebody who has been through a lot."

To that Fritz raised an eye brow. How much did his Brother know about what's been going on lately,

"How do you know?" Fritz asked,

"I don't but I'm good at observing people." Vincent said. "Its practically written on his face, Fritz. He's been having trouble sleeping, his eyes were blood shot. He doesn't like being scarred or shouted out, which is understandable if you think about it but maybe there's a reason for that. I could be wrong but I think he's overworked with no time for him to rest and relax, which he clearly needs right now. And, his eyes they just looked so haunted... I think there's something troubling him."

"Haunted. Now I know your just exaggerating, Vin." Fritz remarked.

"Maybe. But I know what I saw, Brother." Vincent replied.

"So, what are you going to do?" Fritz inquired.

"Nothing. As much as I want to help him I'm just a complete stranger to him and he wouldn't come to me if he didn't trust me. I'll just have to wait until he needs somebody and, until then, I'll just offer him support." Vincent said.

Fritz agreed with Vincent's decision, though he was little bit sceptic about it. Knowing Vincent he would say one thing but then he would do another. He could tell that Vincent was hiding something, he just didn't know what. And that made him feel uneasy. If he knew what Vincent was planning if he could plan ahead himself and, considering the situation he needed to be one step ahead if he was going to outplay his Brother.

"We should get back to work" Fritz said.

Vincent nodded. "You go ahead. I just need some time to think."

He barely noticed Fritz leaving the room. He was quite surprised to hear his Brother agree with him. There again it was more to do with what happened in the Parts and Service room than Mikey. He didn't miss the odd looks and uneasy tone of voice, he definitely wanted Mikey out of the room when they met Thursday morning. Vincent didn't seemed surprised when Fritz did that. His Brother was playing a dangerous game, even if he told him that he was just protecting Mikey.

_He would never hurt Mikey. He knows that._

* * *

As expected Gavin had decided to call Mike in. He had been sleeping when he received the phone call but nevertheless he came in anyway. He did ask if Jeremy was coming in but Gavin told him that he needed to hear his side of what happened last night, and Jeremy hadn't been in the room anyway so he wasn't needed. Mike tried not to sigh as was taking a quick shower. Of course his boss wanted him to come in. He wasn't surprised anymore. Gavin did tell him that if he did mess up then he would be fired again.

Mike just didn't know what he did to even go past that fine line. Perhaps it was because he and Jeremy did allow Diana to come inside after hours and Gavin had found out about it. There again why was he the only one coming in when Jeremy had equal involvement in the matter?

When he had finished his shower he went back to his room to change. He didn't know if he needed his uniform but Gavin told him that the conversation wouldn't take too long. He decided to put on his red hoodie, blue jeans and black shoes. He knew Jonathan was at work so that mean he and Aisha had the house to themselves, that also meant he could ask Aisha for lift to work.

Aisha didn't mind driving him to the Pizzeria. When they arrived Aisha parked her car the parking lot and decided to wait for Mike. Hopefully the conversation wouldn't be too long because they had things to do. Rachel was coming for a visit soon and Aisha needed to start preparing for it. They had been talking about it in the car and, if Mike was being completely honest, he was looking forward to it. She was like a sister to him, an actually sibling, and she practically had his back whenever Jonathan was being too harsh.

When he entered the Pizzeria he quickly made his way upstairs. On the way he saw Matt at the prize counter and waved at him when he noticed him, Matt happily returned it. When he was outside the door to Gavin's office he knocked on the door and waited for Gavin to reply.

"Yes?"

"Its Mike Schmidt, Sir. You said you wanted to see me." Mike replied.

"Yes I did. Come in." He heard Gavin say.

Mike open the door and went inside. Gavin had been doing paper work before Mike knocked on his door so, when he had a spare moment, he looked up and allowed the redhead to take a seat. Gavin put his pen down when Mike was seated.

"What did you want to talk about, Sir?" Mike asked.

"An incident happened this morning when I came into work. The animatronics were already activated for morning performances but Freddy was screeching on stage. We aren't internally sure what happened but I was wondering if you had noticed anything suspicious last night." Gavin explained.

"Suspicious?" Mike repeated. "I'm not trying to be rude here, Mr Johnson, but it sounds like your blaming me for something."

Gavin grimaced. "No offense taken, Mr Schmidt. To be completely honest I did accuse you of doing something to Freddy. But, after listening to Vincent's comments, I decided to reconsider my words."

"What did Vincent say." Mike asked.

"He told me that he had seen the security footage from last night and that you were nowhere near Freddy all night. That, and he was defending you because I said some... words that I shouldn't have said without hearing you out first." Gavin told him. "And, for that, I'm sorry."

_"He defended me. Again." _Mike thought.

The first time was fine. He was just explaining the reason as to why he was in the achieve room in the first place. But the second time? Mike didn't know why the man wanted to defend him so much. He didn't exactly know him. Sure, they talked a few times but a part from that they were just work colleagues.

"I don't know why he did that." Mike said.

"I don't know either. Fritz gave me a reason but I'm not entirely sure if that's the real reason." Gavin replied. "So, about what happened last night..."

Mike told Gavin about what happened last night. He left somethings out like Diana coming into the Pizzeria, he Jeremy and Diana being in the achieve room instead of the security office and he and Diana talking to the animatronics about the kidnappings - Gavin didn't need to know about that and if he did then he would report it to the higher ups.

"That's the same thing Vincent said." Gavin commented when Mike was finished. "Alright, Mr Schmidt, I believe you."

"So, I'm not in any trouble then?" Mike inquired.

"No. You never were in the first place. I should listen to your side of the story before saying anything." Gavin replied.

"Thank you, Sir." Mike said.

Gavin nodded. "You can leave now, Mr Schmidt."

Mike nodded in return before leaving the room. He quite surprised that the meeting went well, Mr Johnson didn't yell at him and he heard him out despite the fact that unsure on the matter. Perhaps he was starting to change? Mike wasn't completely convinced on that but at least he knew the reason as to why he a few anger issues. However, Mr Johnson still had a lot of work to do before Mike could fully trust the man - especially since he was running a company who's main income was from families. If he blew up in front of the kids then there parents wouldn't want to come back. At least this was step in the right direction.

There was also Vincent's involvement in the matter. Mike just didn't know why he was being so kind to him - though, if he was being completely honest, it was nice to have somebody who had his back. He didn't want to keep Aisha waiting but he was curious about what Vincent said to Gavin earlier. With that in mind Mike made his way downstairs. Gavin's office was above the west so, when he past the security office, he saw a familiar face sitting in the office. Mike walked up to the door and knocked on it.

Vincent turned to face him. "Hello, Mikey."

"Hey, Vincent." Mike replied. "Were you expecting me?"

Vincent shrugged. "Sort of. I had a feeling Gavin would've called you in. I just didn't know that you were coming to see me."

"Well, I think we both know why that is." Mike replied as he entered the room. "Mr Johnson told me that you defended me when he was talking about me."

Vincent nodded. "I did."

"Why?" Mike questioned. "I just don't understand. I'm not being ungrateful but that's the second time you've done that. Anymore and I'll have you return the favour."

Vincent had to bit his lip to stop himself was laughing. Although he found what Mike said to be funny, he was also a bit reluctant to talk to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to he just... didn't know what to say to him. He had his... reasons as to why he defended Mike. Everything he said to Gavin was true but there was more to it then that.

"Because you remind me of myself." Vincent said eventually. "Its not that hard to see, Mikey. Its practically in your eyes. I can tell that your hurting and you have nobody to help you. Of course I don't know the full situation but its not fair on you. The explanations have to come from you but I don't think you have the confidence to tell anyone, let alone have the right support to help you."

Mike was... well, for the lack of better word, speechless. He didn't think anybody would be able to notice the pain he was going through. When he left the room the other day he thought he had done a good job at hiding the truth. But... Vincent was right. He was hurting.

"Y-your right..." Mike admitted. _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry._ He had to force himself to move away. "B-but..."

Vincent stop him from continuing, he took Mikey into his arms as he did the previous day. He could tell that now wasn't the right time to talk about it.

"You don't have to tell me anything now. You can come to me when your ready, its up to you if you really want to." Vincent intervened. He wasn't going to make the same mistakes as Jeremy did. "I do want to help you, Mikey, but I know your not comfortable talking about it. We can keep meeting like this if you want, and in return I will never expect anything from you. You should be in the right frame of mind before you talk about anything."

"I... I need to think about it." Mike said. "But, thanks for the offer."

Vincent whispered. "That's all I can ask for."

* * *

Aisha had been waiting in the car when she received text message. At first she hadn't minded when Mike had asked her for a lift to the Pizzeria, even though she wanted nothing to do with it. But, Mike was needed by his boss and Aisha didn't know how long the owner was willing to wait for his employee.

At first she thought it was Jonathan or Rachel.

But...

Her eyes widen once she saw who it was from. She didn't think she would be hearing from him so soon.

"We have a problem..."

Aisha read through the message, she was more and more worried at each passing second. When she was done she slowly put her phone down and turned to the Pizzeria. She... She didn't think this would be happening so soon. In fact a small part of her had hoped that it wasn't going to happen. Yet, here they both were. Forced down a path that neither one of them wanted to take.

They knew the risks of what there actions would've done. But, he told her that it was necessary to keep him safe.

Unfortunately, Aisha knew that she hadn't done a good job in that.

Just how can everything change in the space of one week?


End file.
